December 2022 Update from Israel

As we close out 2022, I am overdue to put together another blog.  I could probably devote this whole blog to political developments in Israel - but that would be a depressing post and would probably bore those of us you who are less interested in Israeli politics.  So I have instead put together a smattering of items.  Hopefully one or more  will interest you.  That's not to say that I will skip Israeli  politics entirely - I certainly won't.  But this will be  more of one of those "stream of consciousness blogs" hitting on a few different topics.  Hopefully it will all come together.

"Holiday Season" in Israel

This year, I came to Israel a bit earlier than usual in December since we had guests arriving for Chanuka.  I usually tend to come back to Israel later in the month, once things quieten down in Toronto.  For me, one of the nice aspects of being in Israel in December is the complete lack of Christmas and  Christmas celebrations.

I don't mean that in a negative way towards those who celebrate.  But in Canada, the November-December period is the time of year when I am reminded that I don't really belong.  Decorations and trees are everywhere - in stores, office places, malls.  The Second Cup that I go to in the mornings to grab a coffee starts playing all Christmas music 24/7 the day after Halloween.  Is that really necessary?  I guess if the majority of people enjoy it - then great.  Even for people who fully embrace the holiday - I think they probably used to start getting ready in early December.  Now the whole month of November has also become entirely Christmas oriented in many places.

I grew up in an environment in which in my early years the school I attended recited the "Lord's Prayer," (and forced everyone  to do so) even though it was a "public school."  We had Christmas concerts, Christmas Carols and other trappings of the ubiquitous Christian majority culture.  As one the small minority who did  not celebrate these holidays, I always felt that I just didn't fit in this time of year.  

So for me, it is somewhat refreshing to spend this time in a place where things are  completely different.  Christmas in Israel, in most areas, is a normal work day.  Everything is open and  operates on a normal, non-holiday schedule.  In some  predominantly Christian areas, there are certainly festivities,  decorations and celebrations.  In Nazareth, Bethlehem, parts of Jerusalem and other areas, Christmas is celebrated actively.  I certainly have nothing against that and wish everyone celebrating a Merry Christmas.  But, around the rest of Israel, there is a totally different December atmosphere.

Although Chanuka coincides this year with Christmas, it is a relatively minor holiday.  Some places have a Chanukiah set up for lighting (for example, this restaurant that we were at the other day - pictured above).  But since it is not really a major holiday, most places  haven't really done any decorating.  No one is wearing ugly Chanuka sweaters in Israel (even  though it is cold and rainy) and people are working as usual.  Our  visiting guests couldn't believe it since I think it was their first "holiday season" in Israel.   

Our big  holiday period is the September-October holidays - from Rosh Hashanah to Simchat Torah - or again over Pesach  (Passover).  During those time periods, many businesses are closed, there are festivals around the country and many people are off work, travelling or celebrating.  I could imagine that Yom Kippur in Israel would feel very imposing to someone who is not Jewish since everything is closed.  Though I don't know of any radio station in Israel that would start playing  Yom Kippur and other high holiday music 6 weeks before the actual holiday.

In any event, I have been honoured to attend holiday celebrations with my friends in Canada - whether that is Christmas events, Diwali, or other religious occasions.  And of course  one of the great things about Canada is that people can feel free to celebrate whatever religious or other ethnic or cultural events they choose to celebrate.  But the holiday season still reminds those who don't celebrate Christmas that they are very much a minority - starting as early as Halloween.  I might add - that even in  2022 - Ontario, Canada is still a place where the  government funds Catholic school education  but  not that of other religious groups.  That's a bit of a digression but my overall point - simply - is that it is nice to be somewhere else for a change that time of year.   

We did mark Chanuka by lighting the candles each night, eating some potato latkes, trying some donuts (I tried to minimize my consumption of the donuts...).  But it was fairly low key.

We lit this beautiful Chanukiah that a friend of  ours made.   

Here you can see an example of some of the types of "sofganyot" (filled donuts, basically) that are sold this time of year.

And even though we actively try to minimize the frying - every once in a while  (like during Chanuka and Pesach) - we do enjoy a few  potato latkes.  I like them much more than donuts personally.  In fact, I'll admit that I like them too much - especially with home made apple sauce or fresh sour cream.  

Unlike the custom for many American Jews and some Canadians, we didn't go out for Chinese food on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Partially, that  is due my discussion above, that December 25th is more or less a normal work day here.  But the other reason is that there are relatively few Chinese restaurants.

Nevertheless, we actually wound up going out to pan-Asian restaurant - "Queen Lu" in Ra'anana - which is a mixture of Japanese and Thai, coincidentally on Saturday night December 24.  The food was quite good and the service was great. Queen Lu is a Kosher meat restaurant -  so they have meat and fish dishes as well as vegetarian options.   

Sports Comments

By far, the biggest event in Israel for the year - and probably for the past 4 years - was  the World Cup.  It was so huge here that the TV stations were wishing people a "Happy World Cup Holiday"  throughout the tournament, even though Israel wasn't even participating.  Thousands of Israelis flew to Qatar to attend even though they were not the most welcome guests.  Qatar does not have diplomatic relations with Israel but allowed Israeli to fly direct to Doha just for the World Cup.  Despite some anti-Israeli incidents that took place during the event, nothing major occurred (that I am aware of) and the Israeli soccer (football) fans returned safely.   

Israelis were mixed on whether to cheer for Messi and Argentina or Mbappe and France  in the finals - but I think, on balance, the pendulum was on the Argentina side and a majority of Israelis were cheering for Argentina and were happy to see  Messi win.  Sure there is a sense here (like everywhere else) that  FIFA tournaments tend to be rigged.  After all, the Qataris  own the Paris-St Germaine  club where Messi plays - and Qatar was hosting the tournment.....and Argentina (Messi's  team) won even though they were not  one  of the top favourites to win.  But all that being said, there were some fantastic games and I thoroughly enjoyed watching many of them.  It was fun to see Canada play - even though our national team was not able to come up with a win.  Canada did score its first ever World Cup goal and that was exciting.

Other than watching some international soccer, I am not really interested in the Israeli sports scene.  But I am excited about some other sports and sports tournaments which are a bit challenging to watch here in Israel.

As you might know, the annual World Junior Hockey Tournament opens today in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick.  For hockey fans - this is quite a big deal. This year's  tournament features the much touted 17 year old - Connor Bedard - who is expected to lead the Canadian team and promises to be one of professional hockey's next great stars.   Of course, trying to watch these games in Israel is quite a challenge - because of timing and difficulties in streaming the games.  But I'm hoping to watch a few, especially towards the end of the tournament.  I don't imagine that a huge number of my fellow Israelis will be watching  - but that's their loss.

I am also super excited about the Buffalo Bills this year - who are among the top 3 teams in the NFL with only 2 games to play.  Maybe this will be the year to exorcise those demons of the past - where the Bills played in the Super Bowl four years in a row (1991-1994) without winning any  of them.  As a Torontonian, I grew up travelling down  to Buffalo periodically to attend games - in what has to be the world's worst professional stadium.  But the Buffalo tailgate party, the fan enthusiasm and the general excitement often make  up for the terrible stadium.  We used to bring  barbecues, kosher meat  and other foods, a decent  supply of beer and whatever else was needed to enjoy tailgating starting at 7 or 8 in the morning -  even on snow days.  Sometimes, the weather was  so severe that we left early.  But since Canada does not have an NFL team - Buffalo is really Toronto's "home team" and I would love to see them win.

I have also been watching the odd Toronto Maple Leafs game.  The Leafs have  one of the  top records in hockey this year but Leaf fans know that hockey seasons usually end in disappointment.  After all, the last  Maple Leaf win was in 1967.  Since I still have a share of Leaf  season tickets - I am cheering for them - but I'm not yet convinced that this season will end well.  Watching hockey  from Israel is always a challenge since there is very little  interest here and the times are less than convenient.  But I have seen a few games - and during the playoffs I am willing to sacrifice some sleep to watch my favourite teams play.  But that is not until late April - so I have some time.

Travelling Around    

If you are planning to be in Israel - and looking for something fun to do with young kids - the Yodfat Monkey Forrest in north-central Israel  features a large collection of squirrel monkeys that roam free in the park.  Kids love feeding them (with park-supplied food).  So do many adults.

The park also has a collection of other animals wandering the park including sheep, rams, goats, peacocks and pea hens, and a variety of caged birds including parrots and other talking  birds.  Nothing dangerous, as far as I could see.  People spend about an hour and a half in the park, which closes most days around 3 p.m.

Right next door, there is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant, the Yodfat Cafe, which has a wide ranging menus of salads, pasta dishes, crepes, pizzas and delicious coffee.  We have been  several times and have never been disapppointed.  Next  to the park, there is a also a strictly Kosher bakery/cafe with take out baguettes, croissants and quiches, as well as a small food-truck style Kosher pizza stand.

There are also a whole  bunch of interesting shops  including a boutique  wine store, a cheese shop, a sock store and a  range of other interesting stores and  galleries all right next door to the Monkey Forrest.

Israeli Politics

As you know, Israel held its fifth election in a period of four years on November 1, 2022.  This time around, Netanyahu and his Likud party captured 32 seats which was not nearly enough on their own to establish a government in the 120 seat Knesset.  However, political parties on the right that were prepared to support Netanyahu  reached another 32 seats in total.  That meant that Netanyahu was on track to put togher a 64 seat governing coalition. 

At first, Netanyahu thought that this would be easy to do and might take  "only days."  However, it has now been more than 7 weeks and the government has still not been sworn in.  Netanyahu has advised the President of Israel  that he has reached agreements with his coalition partners  and he is expected  to swear in the government on Thursday December 29, 2022.

This version of Netanyahu's government will be the furthest right government that  Israel has  ever had.  Netanyahu's coalition includes two ultra-religious parties (Shas and United Torah Judaism) and the Religious Zionist Party - made up of three ultra-right nationalist parties.  

The coalition talks have been difficult for Netanyahu since each of of these five coalition partners have been demanding enormous concessions and Netanyahu has felt  obliged to given in, presumably with the hope  of getting  out of his own legal difficulties in exchange.   

Among the intended, reported agreements:

A change  in the law to allow the Knesset, by a simple majority, to override any decision of the Supreme Court of Israel.

A change in the law to allow convicted criminals (like Shas leader Aryeh Deri) to serve as a cabinet minister without waiting for a seven year "cooling off" period.

A change in the law to allow "freedom of religion" to override anti-discrimination laws - examples provided include the areas of housing, medical treatment,  the military and other areas.   It is apparently targeted at LGBTQ+ people, non-religious women, Arabs and other minorities.     If this is actually implemented, I would imagine it would create worldwide backlash against Israel, even among Jewish communities in countries around the world.     

Changes to further deligimize Reform and Conservative Judaism  in Israel (and worldwide) and to strengthen the power  of the Ultra-Orthodox Rabbinical Authority.

Changes to the land,  civil and military authority in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") to give significant power to the Otzma ("Jewish Power") party,  led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Religious Zionist party led by Betzalel Smotrich.  This will impact  Palestinian housing decisions as well as decisions relating to the growth of new settlements.   It will  also impact a wide range of other decisions affecting daily life throught the disputed terrorities and the rest of Israel.

This is only the tip of the iceberg.  In fairness, it remains to be seen  which of these intended and  announced changes will actually be implemented - by a government that has not yet  even  been sworn in.  But I have no reason to believe or expect that the changes will only be "minor" or that these  changes won't get implemented.  

Overall, in my view, it is a very frightening government, moving us closer to countries like Turkey or Iran in which religious fanatics have signficant power over the lives of all Israeli citizens. One can only hope that all of the in-fighting that we have seen over the past 7 weeks (they haven't even been able to form a government  yet) will continue to create dissonance that will prove too  difficult to overcome.

To be clear - I think that is overly optimistic.  This new  government is  likely to last for a while - and it is likely to cause signficant damage to Israel as a democracy, as a  place that values the rule of law and as a place that welcomes Jewish people and others from all over the world as visitors and as potential immigrants.  The retroactive legalization of different crimes including corruption, bribery and tax  evasion, (by allowing those convicted of these crimes to serve as ministers), the legitimization of discrimination, the hand-over  of power to nationalist extremists and religious extremists - and other intended changes to the law are all are all steps that should worry Israelis and Jews  around the world who have been proud of Israel's accomplishments as a liberal democracy -  even as one  with warts and spots that inevitably accompany any country.

On the political front, I am hoping that 2023 will bring better news for Israel but I am not counting on it.  

Wishing everyone the best  of health, happiness, success and fun times  in 2023.

Post-Chanuka, Vaccinations Starting, 2020 On the Way Out

 

It has been a crazy year - not only in Israel, of course, but around the world.  But perhaps there is a sign of light at the end of the tunnel.  On Saturday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu took one for the team - and presented himself to be the first person vaccinated in Israel with the Pfizer vaccine.  The vaccination was shown live on prime TV at 8 p.m.  

After a lengthy broadcast of all of the preparations for the big event, various medical personnel and security personnel were shown preparing the area for the big event.  The podium was polished and the microphone was carefully cleaned.  At 8 p.m. exactly, the Prime Minister showed up, gave a short speech (as did Likud Minister Yuli Edelstein) and then Netanyahu sat down for his vaccination.  Interestingly, his personal doctor administered the vaccine rather than the nurse who mixed it (which is apparently a breach of the hospital's rules).  In fact, three different medical personnel were seen on live tv handling the vaccine - two of whom weren't wearing gloves - before passing it to the gloveless doctor - seen in the photo.  Not sure if they will also broadcast  Netanyahu's return to the hospital in 21 days for his second dose but perhaps they will pay a bit more attention to hospital protocol for the second dose.

Admittedly, this is all a digression.  The good news, as reported by the  Israeli government and in various news outlets, is that Israel has begun vaccinating its citizens actively as of yesterday.  Medical stations, equipped with appropriate freezers, have been set up across the country and estimates are that Israel will be able to administer 60,000 vaccinations per day.  Israel has apparently purchased 8 million doses from Pfizer and several million more from Moderna.  At this rate, close to 2 million Israelis may be able to receive their first dose by the end of January.  If things continue at this pace and there are no snafus, it is quite conceivable that Israel will have vaccinated the majority of its residents by mid 2021.  I suppose it remains to be seen whether the vaccine actually works and whether that will effectively end the problem, at least in this country.

In the meantime, some commentators have characterized the atmosphere in Israel, in some sectors as "end of course" or "end of semester."  The idea is that often at the end of a school year (or some other type of course, perhaps an army training course) once all the hard work has been done - people become very lackadaisical about doing anything more (like, in this case, wearing masks, refraining from having parties etc.,).  But this is quite dangerous.  The vaccine is only being rolled out now and it will take months until it is administered fully.

At the same time, the current infection rate in Israel is very high with more than 2,000 new infections being reported daily.  The government has been debating various responses to the growing spread including shutting down the airport completely, shutting down all commerce other than "essential services" and sealing "red zones."  Yesterday, two flights arrived in Israel from Great Britain.   The passengers were all sent to government-arranged quarantine hotel accommodations.  At least 25 passengers refused and were sent back to Great Britain.  The concern apparently related to the latest mutation of Covid-19 which has been spreading in Great Britain.

Several weeks ago, Israel had designated the UAE a "green" country and decided to allow travel without quarantine back and forth between Israel and UAE.  Cynics among us might say that  this was partially intended to bolster the  nascent peace deal between the  UAE and Israel.  In any event, this resulted in thousands of Israelis flocking to Dubai - to attend parties, weddings and other gatherings all without wearing masks or taking other precautions.  Some groups of Israelis flew whole wedding parties to Dubai where they could hold "normal" weddings without any restrictions.  Others, like Israeli singer Eyal Golan, flew to Dubai just for some fun and partying.  Golan actually came back and was diagnosed as having Covid-19, though he is apparently doing fine now.  Still others, according to media reports, have been travelling to UAE for another well known purpose - sex tourism.  I suppose Covid-19 might be the least of the problems for some of these travellers.

In any event, Israel has now determined that there are no "green countries" and that all travellers will now be required to quarantine on return to Israel, even those coming from the UAE, despite any political ramifications, real or imagined.  It will apparently take effect three days from now - so I suppose there is still time for a quick whirlwind UAE simcha or some other type of equally rapturous event.  I think we will stay home, thanks.

In other news, and maybe I sound like a broken record here, if you have read my past columns, the current Israeli government is on the brink of collapse.   A vote on a non-confidence motion is expected either tonight or tomorrow.  If the government falls, there is talk of a March 23, 2021 election date, though that remains to be finalized.  Under Israeli law,  the 2020 budget  must  be passed by December 23, 2020, a date that was already moved back with previous legislation.  Since there is still no budget in place, either for 2020 or 2021, the government is set to collapse even without a non-confidence motion.  

There has been significant negotiation between Netanyahu's Likud party and Gantz's Blue and White party to reach a compromise, delay the date once again and keep this government alive with some urgent political CPR.   Over the weekend, there were reports that a deal was reached to resolve the crisis.  However, the concessions made by Gantz to Netanyahu to avoid an election were apparently too much to stomach for some of Gantz's Blue and White party members and it does not look like Gantz will be  able to get the full support of his party to keep the coalition together.

On the other side of the aisle, a long serving, high ranking Likud member, Gideon Saar, recently announced that he was leaving the Likud party and setting up his own party called "New Hope."  Does this sound familiar?  It is a very recurrent theme in Israeli politics.  In any case, Saar has been able to take a bunch  of Likud members with him and is running at 15-20  potential seats in the Knesset according to some polls.  Saar describes himself as a right wing politician, fully committed to most, if not all of Netanyahu's policies, other than, perhaps, those  dealing with the rule of law, on which Saar states that he is committed fully to the fight against corruption and the rule of law.  Saar has stated that he is not prepared to join a government led by Netanyahu following the next election.  I think I remember Gantz saying very similar things....

In any event, polls suggest that Netanyahu may now have a difficult time forming a government after the next election, but I wouldn't rule him out.  The Covid-19 vaccine is being rolled out, the economy may start to improve - and Netanyahu will figure out what kind of campaign is likely to work best against his latest foe.  Netanyahu  is a seasoned politician who  knows how to tackle difficult challenges.  His nickname is "the magician" so we will see if he can pull yet  another election win out of his hatful of tricks.

Netanyahu has refused to agree to pass state budgets for 2020 or 2021 because the coalition deal that he signed with Gantz stated that if the government were to fall for any reason, Gantz would become interim Prime Minister.  The one exception was if the government were to fall because of a budget disagreement, in which case Netanyahu would continue to be the Prime Minister until the next government was formed.  So once Netanyahu decided that this government wasn't working to his satisfaction the only choice he had for bringing down the government was one related to the budget - so that he will remain on as the interim Prime Minister throughout the next election campaign. 

Netanyahu's criminal proceedings are scheduled to continue now  in early February, having been delayed several times.  He is facing charges of breach of trust, corruption and bribery.  If convicted, he could face a lengthy prison term.   Given the past  pattern, it is likely that  Netanyahu will seek  a further adjournment, perhaps until after the pending election, though it is not clear that it will be granted  by the court this time.  He is still hoping for the "big win" in the election that would get him a coalition government with a retroactive immunity bill to end all of his legal troubles.  That does not look like a probable outcome at this juncture, even if Netanyahu wins the election and is able to piece together another government.

Chanuka has come and gone.  In Israel, the big culinary emphasis around  Chanuka time is donuts rather than latkes.  

Bakeries try to come up with all sorts of eye-catching designs.  Many of the donuts are jelly filled but I saw a really wide variety of options  - pistachio-crème, chocolate mousse, lemon, strawberry and even tehina (sesame paste) filled calorie bombs.  Fortunately, I don't really have a weakness for donuts.   We picked up a few for the first night of Chanuka but they looked better than they tasted.  

On the other hand - I do have a weakness for homemade potato latkes, especially the way both of my grandmothers and my mom used to make them.  Just good old fashioned ingredients, potato, onion, eggs,  salt, pepper and maybe a bit of baking powder and flour (too hard to find matzah meal in Israel when it is not Passover time).  I tried to learn a bit from all three teachers.  I also made some homemade applesauce to accompany the  latkes with our Friday night dinner.  And one night we ate a dairy meal and had a few with sour cream.  The latkes probably did more damage than the donuts - but it has not turned  out to be a lasting problem, thankfully.  

It was nice to be here for the full Chanuka holiday this year, even though there were few of the normal festivities due to the pandemic. But the weather has been fairly moderate, low 20s C (high 60sF) with some rain here  and there.  One of the nice things about being in Israel, for someone who is Jewish, is the almost complete absence of Christmas this  time of year.  I don't say that in a way that is intended to offend anyone - but December is always the time that I felt the least Canadian and most like an outsider.  

From early November (if not sooner), in Canada, the radio stations play non-stop Christmas music, malls and stores are filled with it everywhere - and everything revolves around Christmas until it ends.  Many other Canadian immigrant and minority groups have just  accepted all of this as the trappings of being "Canadian" and assimilated into the Christmas culture.   Many Jewish Canadians, however, have not and have remained among the few groups of Canadians who do not celebrate Christmas.  Sure, many Jewish Canadians go out for Chinese food on Christmas Eve or go to a movie - or even a "Matzah Ball" - or other social event.  Others have left the country by Christmas for a vacation in Florida or some other warm destination, maybe even Israel.  And most who have remained enjoy the day off.   But for the most part, many Jewish Canadians are simply reminded at this  one time of year - of what differentiates them from other Canadians.

Here in Israel, there are certainly people  who celebrate  Christmas.  You can see Christmas lights and  trees in Jaffa, Haifa, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other places - and there are Christian Israelis who celebrate the holiday fully.  But since it is a majoritarian Jewish country, everything is open on Christmas, there are no decorations in the malls and there is no Christmas music on the radio or in the schools.

I have nothing against people celebrating the holiday - whether here, in Canada or anywhere else.  Quite the opposite - I wish everyone all the best in celebrating all of the holidays that they might observe, whether that is Christmas, Diwali, Eid Al Fitr or other holidays.  In fact, I have been honoured to attend a few Christmas dinners with some of my best friends in Canada as well as celebrations of other holidays.

But here in Israel, it is a very special time of year  -  where we can celebrate Chanuka - a holiday that is uniquely ours - and enjoy one of those benefits of being in a majority Jewish culture.  

Chanuka, as you might know, is a "minor" holiday on the Jewish calendar.  Businesses are open and there are no real restrictions on day to day activity.  It is not nearly as important a holiday  as our fall holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot nor is it as significant as Pesach (Passover).  At the same time, it is widely observed, which in Israel means lighting the Chanukiah and eating a bunch of donuts - and maybe some latkes.  

In any event, Chanuka has ended and I think it is fair to say that the main thing people in Israel are now thinking about is when they will be able to get vaccinated - and when things will return to normal.  Whether inspired by Chanuka, Christmas or Diwali, all of which have a  significant theme of light, I think are all hoping to see some bright light at the end of this long period of darkness.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season and all the best for 2021!