Israel's New Coalition Government

The Israeli coalition talks are all but completed and the different parties are expected to sign a coalition deal very shortly.  Assuming that the deal gets signed, Israel will have a new government just in time for the visit of President Obama.

In some ways, this could be one of the most change-oriented governments that Israel will have seen in a long time.  There are some very exciting possibilities. 

The Israeli government, so far, will be made up of Likud-Beitenu (31 seats), Yesh Atid (19 seats), Habayit Hayehudi (12 Seats) and Hatnuah (6) seats for a total of 68 seats in the 120 seat Knesset.  The biggest sea change is that this will be one of the few governments in Israel's history without an ultra-orthodox party in the government.  For many years, the ultra-orthodox parties, representing somewhere in the range of 15% of the population, have held the balance of power.  They have been able to extract huge concessions including financial support of Yeshivot, control over rabbinic affairs in Israel, exemptions from military service, preferential housing arrangements and many other terms.  If this new coalition holds together, many of these deals are about to come unraveled.

Yair Lapid campaigned on a platform of making significant changes to domestic policy.  Many Israelis doubted that he could achieve very many of his goals and were quite pessimistic given the way Israeli governments have been managed historically.  However, if the coalition talks are any indication, Israel will see some very significant changes quite quickly.  Lapid withstood enormous pressure from Prime Minister Netanyahu and from the ultra-orthodox.  He managed to come up with a coalition agreement that included major concessions.  The ultra-orthodox will no longer be exempt from the army and mandatory service for all Israeli men will be reduced from 3 years to 2 years. Lapid's party will control the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. This means that here will be major educational reform - including mandatory secular subjects for all Israelis.  Budget allocations to ultra-orthodox institutions will undoubtedly be reduced dramatically.  Lapid has also indicated that he will pushing to change, liberalize and modernize the relationship between the state and its religious groups.  In other words, he will aim to reduce the power of Israel's ultra-orthodox rabbis and emphasize pluralism, greater equality and opportunity for liberal streams of Judaism.  There are all kinds of possibilities here, ranging from better treatment of Conservative and Reform Jewish organizations, changes to how the Kotel is run, changes to marriage, divorce and other laws and changes in many other areas.  The religious character of Israel is about to undergo a major transformation.  If Lapid can continue to deliver in many of these areas, his support will grow dramatically and he may even wind up forming the next Israeli government.

Lapid could not have achieved all of this alone.  The other big winner in these coalition talks has been Naftali Bennett.  Although Bennett is painted as a right wing extremist in some areas, he proved to be very pragmatic in working with Lapid in these coalition talks.  He solidly supported the notion of universal mandatory service and many of the other platforms that Lapid has put forward.  Bennett has even called for the institution of Sunday as a second day off for Israel so that Israel can move to a 5 day work week.  Bennett proved that he was a man of his word and he stuck by Lapid even has Prime Minister Netanyahu did everything he could to break the understanding that Lapid and Bennett had.  Bennett was a major victor in these coalition talks.

From a domestic perspective, it seems to me that this could turn into one of the best governments that Israel has ever had.  It looks like it will be a government committed to trade and investment, education, improvements to health and medical care, technology and significant liberalization of Israeli society in many areas.

However, there are also major challenges.  Netanyahu also included HaTenuah, led by Tsipi Livni, in the government.  Livni is committed to beginning new peace negotiations with the Palestinians immediately and she is supported in that area by Lapid.  Netanyahu also agreed to this as a term of Livni joining the government.  However, Bennett, based on what he has said so far, is adamantly opposed to having Israel make any concessions.  So with respect to peace talks with the Palestinians, it is unclear what this government will do.  If Bennett decides to take a pragmatic approach, as he showed that he can do in these coalition talks, there may still be opportunities for this government to take some bold steps and try to reach some kind of deal with the Palestinians.  Lapid and Livni are certainly willing to take these steps, though it is unclear whether Netanyahu (and Bennett) are willing to join them.  In any event, the flip side is that the Palestinians will also have to make significant concessions to get a deal.  It is quite clear that this government is not about to make any concessions on Jerusalem, nor is it about to leave the major Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank.  These areas will almost certainly be annexed by Israel even if that is part of some kind of land/territory swap. 

In some ways, this government is a big defeat for Prime Minister Netanyahu.  He was unable to keep the ultra-orthodox in the government after they have supported his party for so many years.  He lost more ministerial portfolios than he would have liked and he even agreed to reduce the size of the cabinet down to 22 members from a high point of more than 30.  In fact, he was forced to make concessions in almost every area that Bennett and Lapid demanded.  This was a major lesson in humility for a Prime Minister who was in such a stronger position after the previous election.  However, he is still the Prime Minister and he will still have a great deal of power.

The new government must also be seen as a major defeat for Shelly Yacomovitch and the Labour Party.  Rather than join in these talks - and try to work with Lapid and his centrist ideas, Labour opted to take the position that they would refuse to join the government under any conditions.  They missed a tremendous opportunity to be a part of what may shape up to be a very progressive government.  As a result, if Lapid is successful, it seems to me that Labour will face a significant decline in popular support by the next election.  Labour would be better off ousting its current leader and joining this government as part of a national unity coalition, while they can still get some reasonable concessions.

The new government is also a huge defeat for the ultra-orthodox parties who will sit with Labour in the opposition benches.  In a way, there was not much that the ultra-orthodox could do after the election results.  Lapid wound up with more power than the ultra-orthodox and he was prepared to use it - unlike many Israeli politicians in the past.  The Haredi parties have tried to paint this is some type of "anti-Haredi" movement - even hatred of the ultra-orthodox.  I don't think that is really the point.  For years, the ultra-orthodox have played the system, held the balance of power and extracted enormous concessions, all of which have affected Israelis across the spectrum.  This is now an opportunity to try something different - a government without ultra-orthodox - which will have the chance to change things around.

Overall, Israel faces many different challenges - ranging from existential and military challenges posed by Iran, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, the Palestinians, Hezbollah and various other hostile neighbours to the challenges of increasing world isolation and in some cases (like with Turkey), outright anti-Israel hostility, even bald anti-Semitism.  Israel also has a wide range of domestic challenges including its national debt, the growing gap between rich and poor, the very high cost of living and the tensions between the ultra-religious, the religious and the secular. 

With all of these challenges, the new government will have lots of work to do.   But it seems to me that it is much better equipped to tackle some of these challenges than many of the governments Israel has had in the past.

 

Swiss: Tel-Aviv to Toronto Route Review: March 2013

Flying Over Switzerland - From Inside Swiss plane

Over my three years of travelling back and forth between Toronto and Tel-Aviv, I have managed to sample most of the Star Alliance partners that travel this route.  Travelling Star Alliance allows me to collect Aeroplan points, which seems like the best option for this route.

I have reviewed the various options in different blog posts, which are all listed in the Contents By Topic page.  While I try to take a direct flight as often as I can, the price difference is often so significant that it is worthwhile trying a different route.

Most recently, I flew on Swiss.  The price on Expedia was about $800 cheaper than flying on the available Air Canada flight for the dates I needed.  So I decided to save the money and take the roundabout route.

Most of the Swiss flights (if not all of them) fly from Zurich to Montreal, rather than Toronto.  So this is a major drawback.  I had to fly Tel-Aviv-Zurich-Montreal-Toronto (in order to save all that money).  I would  have spent the day travelling anyways, even with a direct flight, so although it was an inconvenience, it did not cause me to lose extra work time.

Like most of the other European flights from Tel-Aviv, the Swiss flights leave early in the morning, in this case 5:30 a.m.  That is just not that fun.  It means you have to arrive at the airport at about 3:30 a.m.  this is exhausting.  The highways were empty at 3:30 a.m. but Ben Gurion airport was completely packed.  Since so many of the flights to Europe leave early in the morning, the check-in area was wall to wall people.  It took quite a bit longer than usual to get through everything.  By contrast, the direct flight to Toronto on Air Canada leaves at 12:30 p.m. and the aiport is usually quite empty at that time.

The flight from Tel-Aviv to Zurich was uneventful.  The planes were similar to those used by Austrian and Lufthansa.  But I have to say that Swiss had the best in-flight entertainment selection that I have seen, by far, rivalled perhaps only by United, which would be a distant second.  There were hundreds of movies, and hundreds of musical choices in many different musical genres.  By contrast, for example, Austrian Air does not even have an entertainment system for its route between Tel-Aviv and Vienna.  Of course, I was too tired to watch a movie, having left at 5:30 a.m., but I listened to a bunch of new pop and rock albums while trying to catch up on some sleep.

Regretfully I went back to Kosher meals - since I didn't want to get stuck being served some kind of breakfast wurst or other meat which I would not have been able to eat.  So I had to make do with a hideous omelette look-alike that tasted like a hunk of rubber.  I jealously watched my seat neighbour enjoying a fresh salad and some fresh fruit even though his hunk of mystery meat that accompanied the healthy food did not tempt me at all.

In Zurich, I had about four hours to kill until the flight to Montreal.  I was able to hang out in the "Panorama Lounge" for a while.  This chintzy lounge only offered one hour of free wireless internet (I think it was one of the only lounges that I have been in that has this restriction).  There was a bit of food, some decent coffee and other items.  It was largely empty when I first arrived but as time passed, the lounge became completely overcrowed.  Apparently, there are not many lounge choices in Zurich so seats were at a real premium.

I also spent a bit of time poking around in the duty free stores, but the prices were really quite high.  I decided I had to buy a few bars of chocolate but that was really about it.

The flight from Zurich to Montreal was fine.  The plane featured the same great in-flight entertainment system so I was able to catch up on a few recent movies.  I actually quite enjoyed watching Silver Linings Playbook and I also checked out some more new music selections.  The kosher mystery beef dish that was served for lunch was quite questionable.  Probably should have ordered vegetarian...Near the end of the flight I was served some kind of deli sandwhich, which was equally less than appetizing.

The real problem with this flight was the extra delay of having to travel through Montreal.  Of course I love Montreal (I was born there after all) but this stop simply added an extra three or four hours to my travel time.  Fortunately, I was able to get on a standby list to leave on an earlier flight than scheduled (on Air Canada) and I wound up in Toronto about 2 hours earlier than scheduled at 5:30 p.m.  Total Travel time - 19 hours - including travel time, lounge time and everything in between.   It would have been 21 if I had not been able to get the earlier flight. 

Most Swiss flights award full Aeroplan points (unlike Austrian and many Lufthansa) and you get to see some really great scenery travelling into and out of Switzerland, if you have a window seat.  All in all, I would say that this was probably a preferable flight over Austrian and maybe even over Lufthansa but it wasn't as good as flying via United or US Air, if you have to make a stopover.

I won't rule it out for the future, particularly if I can save hundreds of dollars (not just one or two hundred...), but there is no doubt that it is preferable to fly direct if at all possible.

The Israeli Line-Up: Waiting...

"Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting"

Dr. Suess from "Oh the Places You'll  Go"

I think about Dr. Suess often when I am in Israel.  Lots of different kinds of line-ups, that often involve lots of waiting.  

In fairness, I think the country has improved quite significantly over the years.  Most places that expect a lengthy wait now have number systems.  At least people know who is next.  When I was a student at Hebrew University a few years ago (okay, more than 20...), we would make our way over to the bank.  There were no numbers.  Each person who came in would ask "who is last in line?".  They would then try to remember who they were after.  Of course along the way, some people would leave to go do some shopping or other errands.  They would say - "save my spot - I'll be back soon."  You can imagine the chaos that often ensued, especially when a person who thought he or she was next suddenly wound up with three people appearing and claiming to be ahead (they had all been out running errands).

Nowadays the banks use number systems - which at least means you can sit down in some big comfy chairs while waiting your turn.  Often things move along expeditiously - but, not always.  Even if there are comfy chairs, that still does not make you feel any better about waiting 45 minutes for a transaction.

A visit to the cell phone office can still be a full day activity - okay at least a half day.  Fortunately, they will give you a number and then send you a text message when it's your turn.  So you can go have a coffee, do some shopping, wander around the mall - all while waiting your turn.  We have had to wait more than 45 minutes to meet with someone at Cellcom - and then the meeting itself, especially if you are changing or updating a service, can easily take more than an hour.  (To be fair, if you are trying to negotiate a price plan with Rogers in Canada, you might find yourself tied up on the phone for at least 1 1/2 hours...)

Need to mail a package or pay a bill at the post office in Israel?  Better pack a lunch or at least bring a coffee and a book.  The line-ups are daunting, though there is usually a working number system.  Fortunately, fewer and fewer people have any reason to be in the post office these days.  This applies to Israel as much as it applies anywhere else in the world, although somehow the post office still seems a lot more crowded in Israel than in other countries.

But there is something unique about many of the Israeli line-ups...maybe it has to do with the level of impatience that you might see.  Israelis don't hestitate to step out of line and try get a manager involved who can quicken the line-up movement somehow.

One of my favourite and most comical experiences was watching a veteran Israeli family member (not immediate family - and no names given...) tackle the hours-long line up at  the bituach leumi office in the Rehovot area.  Approaching the number dispenser, he saw that he was number 110 and the line up was only in the 60s or 70s.  He could have easily been there for 1 1/2 hours.  Fortunately, he found a crumpled up 58 that had been discarded after use and managed to convince a clerk that he had simply missed his turn.  He was in and out in 10 minutes.

Another occasion was our experience at the Ministry of Transportation, waiting to get a driver's licence soon after first arriving in Israel.  We were in line along with at least 50 or 60 people.  Suddenly, there was announcement that the clerks are all taking their morning coffee break - at the same time.  So from 10:15 to 10:30 a.m., all 10 clerks shuffled off for a coffee break and nothing moved until they had all enjoyed their Java.  Incredible.

Then of course, there is the airport. For those arriving in Israel, at customs, it just looks like a giant swarm of people with no distinct line ups.  This is because the line demarcations only run for a few feet from the wickets.  After that, there is no demarcation - so everyone just finds a place to wait wherever they can - and the real craziness happens as people approach their turn.  Israelis can avoid all of these lines by registering for a quick check through, free, as long as you have an Israeli passport.

Line ups to board planes area also an experience.  If you fly most airlines, other than El-Al, they try to use an orderly boarding system.  They will only allow people to board if their row numbers have been called.  Most airlines will actuall enforce this.  So if you are waiting to board an Air Canada flight or a U.S. airline, and they have only called "rows 30 to 40" - they will not let you board if you are in row 18.  If it is El Al - they don't bother trying to enforce these rules.  So they simply call "passengers on rows 40 or higher" and everyone just moves into a big clump and makes their way to the front.  When I asked a friend of mine about this, (who happens to work for El-Al), his answer was that the Israeli customers just simply refused to follow these rules, so El Al gave up.

On the positive side, Israel now does a great job of managing most medical and dental appointments. You can make an appointment on-line and get a fairly short window.  I also found that the passport line-ups in Israel seemed to be quite a bit shorter than the equivalent Canadian line-up.  Technicians and service people will usually give you a very narrow window if something should happen to break down or if you are having something delivered.  And the technicians will come quite promptly.  In Canada or the U.S., they will often say "we will come between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m." or give you some other 4 hour window.  In Israel, they will usually narrow that down to 1 or 2 hours and will send you a text message when they are on their way.

Overall, there are people waiting everywhere, all over the world, so I'm not sure it's fair to say that there is more waiting in Israel than anywhere else.  And certainly if we consider the real meaning of Dr. Suess's words, I think it is probably fair to say that more Israelis are action-oriented and spend less time just waiting...

While, clearly, there are as many Israelis "waiting for Friday night" as other people Dr. Suess may have had in mind, the history of entrepreneurship in Israel shows that many Israelis are not willing to just wait around and prefer to take action.

That may not apply in the current round of coalition talks - as many different players seem to be "waiting" for something to happen.  Just as Israel seems to be "waiting" for some kind of breakthrough with the Palestinians.  And of course, Avigdor Lieberman  is waiting for his trial, while former President Moshe Katzav is waiting for his sentence to end.

There is still a great deal of waiting in Israel and it often seems like much more waiting than in North America.  But there is probably also a lot more action as well.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
- See more at: http://www.bravenewlife.com/11/the-waiting-place/#sthash.lPAEuVk2.dpuf Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
- See more at: http://www.bravenewlife.com/11/the-waiting-place/#sthash.lPAEuVk2.dpuf

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
- See more at: http://www.bravenewlife.com/11/the-waiting-place/#sthash.lPAEuVk2.dpuf

Israel: Coalition Talks Continue

Yair Lapid (left) and Naftali Bennett

The Israeli election was held on January 22, 2013.  My analysis of the expected coaltion talks, writing at the time, can be found here.  Meanwhile, more than a month has passed and it is still unclear what type of government Israel will have, other than the fact that it will almost certainly be led by the Likud party.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has failed to reach a coalition deal within the initial alotted time period.  He will now have until March 14, 2013.  If he still cannot conclude a deal by that time, there will either be new elections - or President Shimon Peres will ask another party to try to form the government.  In all probability, Netanyahu will reach a deal with some of the other parties by the deadline, even if the deal is reached just as time is expiring.

The only party to have joined the Likud so far is "The Movement" led by Tsipi Livni.  This was quite surprising to many Israelis since the centrist Livni joined a government without knowing which other parties would be involved.  She was granted a few cabinet posts and put in charge of overseeing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  As leader of the Kadima party after the previous election, Livni had opted to stay out of the government, despite having a large and powerful party.  This time around, she brings a much smaller number of seats.  To date, no other parties have been willing to join this coalition, which now numbers 37.  A majority of 61 is required to control the Knesset.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been speaking to all of the possible suitors - Labour, Yesh Atid, Habayit Hayehudi and the ultra-Religious parties.  These talks are mainly held behind closed doors and it is really difficult to know exactly what is being demanded, promised or rejected and what genuine information or misinformation is being leaked.

However, it is fairly clear that two of the largest parties, Yesh Atid and Habayit Hayehudi have reached some sort of deal under which they will only enter the government together.  Apparently, the main piece of the deal centres around the idea that almost all ultra-religious Israelis will be required to serve in the army or the national service, by age 21, with only a small number exempted.  Both parties seem to be holding very firm to this demand, even as the ultra-religious Shas party has been attacking the parties for their lack of flexiblity and alleging that they are "anti-Haredi."  Tonight, Likud-Beitenu suggested that Yesh Atid was refusing to sit in a government with the ultra-religious parties.  However, it is not clear that Yesh Atid has actually taken this position.  It may be that they are holding merely steadfast to certain demands - the content of which are entirely unacceptable to the ultra-religious.  However, there is a big difference between insisting on some significant policy changes that will affect Haredim (as well as many other Israelis) - versus being "anti-Haredi."

Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid seem to have been able to agree on policies in a number of areas, primarily related to domestic issues.  Their stated aims are to improve education in Israel, improve life for the middle class, change the relationship of the State and the Ultra-Religious and other issues.  Both Bennett and Lapid served in the Israeli Defence Forces and both believe that the burden of mandatory military service should be distributed universally across Israeli society including ultra-religious Jews and Arab Israelis.  Overall, in the realm of domestic policy, Bennett does not appear to have staked out any particularly extreme positions, though his party would certainly have a much more right leaning social and domestic agenda than the platform on which Lapid campaigned.

The big question mark is what this means for the future of Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian relations.  Bennett is adamantly opposed to any territorial concessions and has indicated that his party will not support a government that makes any such compromises.  Lapid is much more flexible and favours an immediate return to the bargaining table  with the Palestinians.  Even though both parties oppose any concessions with respect to Jerusalem, it is hard to see how any kind of peace deal could be reached with the Palestinians without significant territorial concessions in other areas.  So, ultimately, if both Bennett and Lapid join the Netanyahu-led government together, the government will likely be preoccupied with domestic issues and negotiations with the Palestinians will move down on the priority list, even below where they have been currently.

The big winner so far in the Israeli public forum has been Yair Lapid.  Israelis have apparently been very supportive of his determination and resolve in not making concessions to the ultra-orthodox on the issue of universal conscription.  Some polls have suggested that Lapid's party would win more than 30 seats if a new election were held now.  It may well be that Lapid plans to deal with domestic issues first and then use his momentum and popularity to force a change in the governing coaltion or to force the government to turn its attention to addressing the Palestinian-Israeli dispute in more flexible fashion.

In any event, it seems to me that there are still reasons for Israelis to be cautiously optimistic.  Although the Yesh Atid Party may not be able to fulfill all of its promises, the determination that Yair Lapid is showing with respect to domestic issues is a promising sign that some significant, positive changes are on the way.
 

Israel's "Makolet" (Corner Store) Culture

When I was younger, my aunt and uncle ran a corner store in Montreal.  Neighbourhood residents would come by and pick up most of their staples - fresh bread, cheese, meat, fruits and vegetables and dry goods.  The neighbours would spend some time talking to my aunt and uncle, who learned to speak a number of different languages - at least enough to have animated street conversations.  Over time, in Montreal, as with many other North American cities, these small, family run corner stores gave way to the spread of 24 hour supermarkets. and convenience stores.  While there are still "convenience stores" across North America, few people would think of making a full shopping order in one of these places.  Even fewer probably spend much time speaking to the proprietors.  There is a social disconnect in these modern convenience stores which engenders very little neighbourly communication.   Sometimes, this might be due to a language barrier.  Convenience store owners and workers in North America are often immigrants who have little facility with the English language.  Other times, there is simply a class or social gap that serves a communciation barrier.  In any event, there are few big cities left in which there is a culture of widespread family run corner stores with socially engaged clientele.

That reality is quite different from the situation in many Israeli towns and cities, where the family run corner store - the "makolet" is still ubiquitous.

Liat Market, Ra'anana

Take as one example, our neighbourhood in Ra'anana.  Just around the corner, the "Liat Market" is packed with patrons early in the morning and again towards the end of the day.  Many local residents come by every day to pick up fresh bread, milk, eggs and other products.  The proprietors are on a first name basis with most of the customers.  It is not unusual to hear Eli, one of the co-owners, chatting with different people about soccer games, politics, recent news events or other topics including their personal family situations.  Like in many of the other corner stores across Israel, the owners run a credit system for the customers and keep track of purchases made by any members of the family (including their young children) on index cards.  They collect at the end of the month, if they can...But even if some customers require credit extensions every now and then, there is a certain trust to the relationship and a confidence that they will get paid eventually.  I am sure that most customers reciprocate this trust by paying in timely fashion, even though there are certainly exceptions.

Until relatively recently, the options were credit or cash, though now the owners moved to a computerized system and began accepting credit cards.  Like with the old style corner stores, such as the one that my aunt and uncle used to run, the owners get to know quite a number of the customers well.  There is a definite sense of a common social fabric.  This is partially due to the general Israeli openness and the way in which people interact across the country.  But it is also a product of a culture that still values the local corner store and its benefits, including the close personal relationship with the owners.  Baked goods, the daily newspapers and the dairy products are all delivered, fresh, early in the morning and many people use these really fresh goods for their breakfast or their packed lunches for themselves or for their kids' school lunches.

These makolets are so popular, that they are everywhere.  Within a five minute walk, there are at least of three of them in our Ra'anana neighbourhood and many more nearby.  Things can even become quite competitive between the different owners.  So while the Liat Market, nearest to our place, does not sell fresh fruits and vegetables, there is a competing makolet just just down the street.  Yitzhak Hen's Minimarket has a wide range of fresh produce.  He also opens up at 6 a.m., an hour before Eli to get that competitive edge.  Like the owners of Liat Market, Yitzhak and his wife are friendly, outgoing, personable and helpful.  They joke around with their customers and they won't shy away from a discussion of just about any topic.  Some people in the neighbourhood are fiercely loyal to one owner or the other.  But by and large, the owners of both makolets have wide ranging social connections with many of the neighbourhood residents, many of whom walk over in the morning from nearby their nearby condominium,  apartment buildings or private homes.

While these are only two examples, I have seen these makolets all over the country, in large and small cities and towns.  This "makolet culture" is a reflection of a number of aspects of life in Israel.  It captures the warm and close social interaction that often takes place between retailers and customers, when they are not angrily negotiating over the appropriate price of an item.  It also captures the lack of a hard social barrier than can often exist in North America between store owners and their patrons.  And while watching people pay for goods in the makolet, often by way of credit, with payments for larger orders divided up over a number of installments, you get the sense that the makolet is also represenative of the way in which many retail transactions are conducted.

Overall, these makolets are throwbacks to the corner stores of years ago in many large North American cities, like the one that my aunt and uncle ran for so many years.  But unlike the situation in North America, there seems to be little likelihood that these makolets will vansih anytime soon.  They are far too ingrained in the social fabric of the country.






  

Israel: National Robotics Competition

This is a scene from the national high school robotics championship that was held earlier today at Metrowest High School in Ra'anana, Israel.

The competition winners advance to participate in the annual Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest in Hartford, Connecticut.  This international robotics contest (the "TCFFHRC") is open to entrants from around the world.  This will be the 20th year of the contest.  The finals will be held in Hartford on April 6 and 7, 2013.  Past winners have included teams from China, Israel, Canada and the United States.

Contestants are required to build self propelled robots that move through a maze to find and extinguish a burning candle.  Along the way, the robots may face an obstacle (a stuffed toy dog) that is placed in the maze at one of several random locations based on the roll of a die.  The candle is placed in one of four locations, also randomly.  The robot is built and programmed ahead of time.  Contestants are only allowed to place their robots at the starting position and turn them on.  The judge preses the "start button."  Robots are awarded points for checking each of the rooms, finding the candle and extinguishing it.  They lose points for touching or bumping into the walls or bumping into the dog.  Of course, the robots are also timed and speed is a very important part of the competition and the scoring.

Students work very hard for months building and programming these robots.  On the day of the competition, it all comes down to three chances.  The atmosphere is quite tense.  This year, there were more than 60 teams competing.  This is a very difficult competition and historically, only about 30% of the teams succeed in having their robot complete the course and extinguish the candle at least once.

This a view of one of the mazes, with a robot at starting position.  We watched as quite a number of robots set off quite hopefully and then...faced disaster.  Some moved only a few metres and then suddenly stopped.  Others crashed into walls, became stuck trying to turn corners or faced other unexpected difficulties.  One robot started spinning around repeatedly.  Another arrived at the candle but could not blow it out.  By the end of the first round, approximately ten robots had succeeded in putting out the candles and completing the mazes.

After the second round, four or five additional teams succeeded in putting out their candles and completing the mazes.  All of the teams that failed in their first two attempts were eliminated from the competition, leaving of about 15 teams to participate in the final round.

By the end of the competition, three teams had succeeded in completing the course successfully and extinguishing the candle on all three tries.  All three of these teams, which finished in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place were from Misgav High School in Israel, a school which took the 1st, 3rd and 5th places at the 2012 world competition. 

5th Place in Israeli National Robotics Championship

Three teams from Ostrovsky High School in Ra'anana finished 4th, 5th, and 7th in this year's Israeli competition.  This photo features the 5th place team.  You might recognize the student in the middle...

Although Israel has generally sent the first three teams to the international competition, at which they have performed quite well, Israel has sometimes sent additional teams to participate in these exciting events.  It remains to be seen whether Ra'anana will be represented at this year's   TCFFHRC in Hartford.  That will likely be decided with input from Ra'anana's Mayor, Ostrovsky High School, and perhaps Ministry of Education officials.

Needless to say, we are thrilled and excited for all of the participants, the winning teams and the students of Ostrovsky in Ra'anana who performed so well....especially the students in the photo who came in 5th place...one of whom happens to be a family member...

Purim 2013 - 5773

I wrote about Purim in Ra'anana last year so I'll try not to repeat too much of last year's blog.  But Purim really seems to be an "expanding" holiday in Israel.  Although it is really a one day holiday - and one of the "minor" holidays on the Jewish calendar, it seems to have every increasing stature in Israel.  Perhaps that is because it is such a fun holiday.

Kids are off school for two days (the actual day of Purim - which is today) and tomorrow as well.  But the festivities began even before that.  On Friday, students across Israel went to school dressed up in various costumes.  Many cities had their annual Purim parades that day.

In Ra'anana, the "Adloyadah" parade consists of all of the schools across Ra'anana, including elementary, middle schools and high schools, religious, secular and other building floats and marching through the main city street (Ahuza Street) led by the Mayor.  The float on the left is part of the Hasharon middle school effort.

The float on the right is from the Ostrovosky high school.  Thousands of people lined the streets to watch the parade, which lasted for close to two hours.

Purim officially began on Saturday night with readings of the Megillah (the book of Esther) in synagogues and other places across the country.  We enjoyed a fully egalitarian, lay-led Conservative service and Megillah reading at Hod VeHadar in K'far Sabah.  Many of not most of the congregants came in costumes, including almost all of the children and most of the adults.  Our family accounted for two of the ten chapters, which is quite fun.  Reading the Megillah at Purim is challenging since the text is read from a scroll with no vowels, punctuation or musical notes - just like reading from the Torah.  It also seems to me that there are fewer and fewer young people who know how to chant it properly and that is quite concerning.  So we have made sure to try to do our part by teaching our kids...two of the three so far.  Fortunately, for people who are interested in learning, there are some great resources now available.  For example, the Virtual Cantor site has all of the readings available.  There are many other sites as well.

Purim continued today until sundown (other than in Jerusalem, where there is a bonus day tomorrow).  Many people delivered "Mishloach Manot" packages to friends and relatives - packages of food items, usually.  We received some really great themed Mishloach Manot this year including an all black and white themed package - and a Mexican themed package that included salsa and an avacado...

Another important part of Purim celebrations is making efforts to help the less fortunate by contributing money and food for the needy. There were visible activities in this regard throughout Ra'anana - and all over Israel.

All of these customs are rooted in Jewish religious tradition.  But in present day Israel, Purim is more than a religious festival.  It is a holiday of parties all over the country, people wearing costumes in the streets, gift giving and general merriment.  Walking along Ahuza Street, I saw people of all ages wandering about in various costumers.  Many teenagers dressed in very "minimalist" outfits.  For some reason, it seemed to be very popular for teenage boys to be wearing baby outfits - simply an adult diaper - and nothing else.  Some of them also carried a rattle...

Many teenage girls were wearing equally scanty outfits.  For example, we walked by a whole group of female "police officers," all wearing extremely short mini-skirts, hardly the current uniform of the Israeli police.

The grade 12 high school class at Ostrovsky High School all wore the same outfit.  The students chipped in some money and bought a set of matching white painters overalls for everyone in the class.  At 7:30 a.m., the met at a nearby park and had a "paint war" dumping paints of all different colours all over each other.  Then they all went to school dressed up as painters.  It was quite a sight to see the Ostrovsky students wandering around Ra'anana in their costumes.  Some of the students, mainly the boys as far as I could tell, wore nothing other than the overalls...

Fortunately Israel enjoyed some really nice weather.  If the weather had been cooler, many people would have been quite chilly if they had worn the same "costumes."

Overall, Purim is one of those holidays that is particularly exciting in Israel.  There is a celebratory atmosphere throughout the country and that  makes Purim very festive.