Tel Aviv Rooftop

I've been hearing tales of woe from Jewish friends in the UK as the fallout from Gaza turned into rallies condemning the "Holocaust" there. They described a prevalent atmosphere, not just of virulent criticism of Israel but also of a frightening anti-semitism. However it took an article by the brilliant Anglo-Jewish author Howard Jacobson to better comprehend the insiduous way that anti-semitism lies beneath the discourse. Read it. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/howard-jacobson/howard-jacobson-letrsquos-see-the-criticism-of-israel-for-what-it-really-is-1624827.html

The heavens opened a few hours after Bibi got the nod from Shimon to form a government. "The start of the winter," said the forecaster on the radio in view of the drought and heat this winter. Maybe Kadima will join Bibi's right wing government and maybe it won't. In any event the situation is critical. As someone wrote in the trendy/lefty Ha-ir local TA paper, it's romantic to be a leftist again, for the few to huddle together in companionship and wallow in the glow of being special. Lone tree still survives development along the old Ottoman train line In these situations the thing to do is to take a wintry walk around the neighbourhood in search of other versions of reality Horses in Neve Tsedek raised a smile from the locals. People stuck their heads out of the windows and strangers started talking to each other. A recent and intriguing news items not related to the elections was a report that "The Obama administration has given the Palestinian Authority a...

B sent me a film of Tel Aviv in 1938 , part of the Steven Spielberg archives. check it out by clicking the link. Above: one of a series of photos I've been taking under the working title 'Mad Veg'

Meet our new (old) leader The weather yesterday, polling day, was nasty and squally, especially later, when the results started coming in. We spent the day pleasantly enough though. After morning coffee we exercised our civil duty at the polls at the trendy local community centre. On the way we met M, a neighbour in charge of running campaign volunteers at three polling stations for the Meimad-Green Movement Party. He took one last shot at convincing me to vote for them before running off to find more prey (they almost got in). Then breakfast with friends, one of whom was happy that she had decided to vote for Tsipi Livni, since that was the only way of blocking Binyamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu's rise to power. Finally a homewarming visit where politics was off the agenda. In fact, the day passed so pleasantly that by the time the three buildings of the Azrieli centre were lit up to show the exit poll results...(the real thing was in different colours) and Kadima squeaked ahead ...

Click to enlarge Elections on Tuesday. Not much to look forward to politically but at least I'll get the day off. This illustration of voters at the polls on the front cover of Achbar Ha-Ir (City Mouse) guide speaks volumes. With such a poor supply of leadership on offer it's not surprising that many voters are wracked by indecision and doubt. If in the last post Tsipi Livni was pushing for an immediate and disproportionate response to the truce infractions in Gaza. This week she suddenly started saying that "these elections are all about peace". Yes, the thankfully short election campaign is drawing to a close, and despite the desperate straits we are in, the main contenders are trying to flog us the old merchandise: peace security (and, for the racists, screwing the Arabs) without believing in them and knowing that we don't really believe in them either. In politics, as in advertising, it's all about illusions. The possible combinations of parties that migh...

Snapped this billboard of Tsipi Livni yesterday on Rothschild. It shows a tired and confused looking Livni next to the slogan (chalasha bevitachon) 'Weak in Security' and the sub-slogan that would translate into "Her boots aren't big enough" or "She's not up to the job". This is part of the negative campaigns that both the Likud and the Labour Party are waging against Livni. Might it be possible that this is why she is the most strident in demanding immediate and major responses to the trickle of qassam fire and attacks on troops along the border with Gaza that have started to erode the cease-fire? After all Labour's leader is defense minister "Mr. Security" Ehud Barak, former chief of general staff who was the commander of Likud leader Binyamin 'Strong on Security' Netanyahu in the crack sayeret matkal unit. So Tsipi has her work cut out to prove her military credentials. Her TV campaign spots mention that her father was in t...