Somewhere between my Aswan and Alexandrian adventures in Egypt, SquareSpace or FeedBurner changed their method of sending blogposts to subscribers. Now, I would have to manually send a link. A. found a way to remedy that by uploading my subscriber list to MailChimp and creating a MailChimp campaign. The list is linked to SquareSpace which will automatically send the posts again. So this is really a ‘test’ post to see if we have been successful with MailChimp, and I thought I would use this opportunity to talk politics. We are finally moving on from Trump, Trumps Big Election Lie, and the Storming of the Capital. Even though we are halfway across the world, we were not immune to the trauma of the last 4 years, especially this last year of living through a worldwide Pandemic.

A meme passed around the internet comparing the ultra-orthodox jews gathering at a funeral (upper right and lower left) to a Israeli national treasure - poppyseed cake!

Last week was Election Day in Israel, again. Israel is a parliamentary democracy, the process differs from the US in that a citizen votes for a party. The party with the most seats forms a coalition with some of the other parties to reach a 61-seat majority. Then President Rivlin chooses the Prime Minister. A. likes to joke that every 4 years the US has the opportunity to elect a criminal for President, but in Israel we had the opportunity to elect the same criminal 4 times in the last 2 years. The incumbent, Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu has been Prime Minister for the last 12 years, and for an additional 3 years before that. This is the 4th election because each time Netanyahu won, the coalition he formed was so weak that he was forced to call for a new election. Netanyahu, like Trump, needs to stay in power to avoid prison. He is currently facing a corruption trial for fraud, breach of trust, and bribery.

A popular nickname for Netanyahu, as he is currently facing a corruption trial for fraud, breach of trust, and bribery.

My sister calls Netanyahu - Nosferatu, not as a comparison but because it’s the closest thing to his name that she can remember. Nosferatu was a German expressionist film directed by F.W. Murnau in 1922, and unofficially based on Bram Stokers novel “Dracula.” All copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed because of copyright infringement, although at least one copy survived. The film, set in Germany, is about a vampire whose self preservation depends on blood from his victims, these deaths are then blamed on the plague. Nosferatu’s own life comes to an end because he is seduced at sunrise, and the daylight kills him. In a life-imitates -art scenario, much like Nosferatu, Netanyahu’s political decisions seem to be made in the name of self preservation, during a current pandemic, and the end of his career could very well result from his mis-deeds being brought to light during his upcoming trial. Maybe my sister is onto something?

Nosferatu and Netanyahu, lets call them NuNu, since they both start with N and end with U.

Israel is called Silicon Wadi (Silicon Valley) because of its tech industry, and its reputation as a StartUp Nation. So it was very eye-opening to see their election process up close. Election Day in Israel is a national holiday so schools and most businesses are closed. Israeli citizens receive a postcard in the mail with the voting address, usually within a few blocks of their homes. We walked around the corner to an empty school so A. could cast his vote. We stood in a very short line of people with dogs, strollers, bikes and scooters. When it was his turn, A. went into a small room and gave them his Identity Card.

Every Israeli has an Identity Card which is all you need to vote - no registration involved. He removed his mask so they could verify that it was him, crossed his name off the list, and gave him an envelope. He went behind a cardboard screen set up on a folding table and chose a piece of paper with two letters on it indicating his party of choice. He then placed the paper inside the envelope, sealed it and deposited it in a cardboard box located on the other side of the screen.

Each political party is represented by a few letters instead of the full party name. In 1948, when the country was created, the majority of citizens didn’t speak Hebrew, so it was easier to create a ‘logotype’ that was easily identifiable.

My friend Ariel played a joke on his mom, pretending to choose a party that did not reflect his political views

I was surprised that instead of fancy machines or sophisticated apps, this StartUp Nation didn’t have a more high tech approach to voting. It was decidedly luddite - all paper and cardboard. I was shocked at how simple and scrappy it was, A. stated the obvious “well it’s definitely not hackable.”

As the US tries to create more barriers to voting, Israel does the opposite. They even managed to set up special drive through ballot spots for people quarantined or suffering from COVID19, to encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote.

A special Drive-through voting station was designed especially for people with COVID19.

President Rivlin will meet with the various party heads on April 5th, the same day that the trial of Netanyahu is set to begin. If there is no clear choice for Prime Minister, there could be a 5th election in six months. Ironically, President Rivlin’s 7 year term expires this July, and there is talk of replacing him with BiBi in order to stop the endless election nightmare. So instead of being Crime Minister, Netanyahu could become the Presidon’t!