Memories of the Mob
Looks like a couple of the big mob families are “going to the mattresses” after underworld figure Ya’acov Alperon was assassinated on a Tel Aviv corner just two days ago. Organized crime here runs rampant and there have been numerous innocent citizens caught in the crosshair of attempted assassinations.
I remember back in 2003 or 2004, the wife and I went to Tel Aviv to meet some friends visiting from New York for dinner. After a kick ass meal of grilled meat and 3,000 salads in Jaffa we went to Brasserie M&R at Rabin Square for some coffee and dessert. Shortly after we arrived I noticed about four or five security guards standing in front of the restaurant and one stayed in front of the two Mercedes illegally parked out front. Someone sitting with us (a spokesman for a MK) said that there is no way that it is a government minister because the only person in the government who has that much security is Ariel Sharon. Curiosity set in and after a short discussion we concluded it must be a mob boss. Turns out we were correct.
Now I don’t know much about security, but I do know if I was a mob boss and have had several attempted hits on my life I would take one of my security guards with me to the bathroom. My friend and I happened to go at the same time and as I opened the door as the now jailed Ze’ev Rosenstein was on his way out. I held the door for him (as I would do for anyone) and he actually said thank you. I was going to offer my drug smuggling services but why would he bother with me when he has former government ministers to do that for him? Anyway, we could have TOTALLY taken him out – easily. I wouldn’t have made it out alive and even if I did I would be on the run for the rest of my life but its fun to fantasize about. There have been many attempts on his life and innocent bystanders have been killed and severely wounded in failed assassination attempts. The irony wasn’t lost on me that we were sitting outside at a cafe in the middle of Tel Aviv and didn’t think twice about a potential suicide bombing but were suddenly worried about being caught in the crossfire of a mob hit.
My visiting friend (who is no stranger to Israel) was dumbfounded by the fact that his reputed mobster was wearing shorts, a really ugly shirt and crappy sandals. I don’t know if he was expecting him to be wearing an Armani suit or something but this is Israel. It’s as casual as it gets – even for mobsters.
Afterward, on the drive home, I wondered why my friend was looking at his feet.
GA Wrap-Up: Day 1
As written about here, the GA’s in town and so are thousands of Jewish leaders from the US, Israel, and around the world. So what goes on at this mega-conference anyway?
Here’s one wrap-up:
Edgar Bronfman tells us that at age 36, David Ben-Gurion was the head of the Labor Party. Herzl was 36 when he came to Palestine. Anybody else feel like an underachiever? Suddenly, winning at Sudoku doesn’t feel quite as important anymore. I officially have two years to do something. He says let’s not talk about intermarriage as an enemy but as a reality. He continues, saying that the biggest threats to the Jewish community are ignorance and apathy, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” I have one thing to say to that. WHATEVER.
Edgar Bronfman gets his speech on. E-Bron, if you’re reading this…umm, can I go out with your granddaughter? Grandson? Cleaning lady? I’m not picky.For a full wrap-up, check out more at What War Zone???
My Buddy, the Mayor
You’d think that in a dinky little town, there wouldn’t be much reason anyone would want to run for mayor – it’s certainly not likely to be a stepping stone to anything, except maybe another term as mayor. The mayor does get a salary, but I don’t think it’s as high as the salaries of mayors in big cities (NIS 33,000 a month plus expenses). 
The municipal elections were nearly a week ago already, but they just finished counting the votes in our town – not that the race was particularly close, but they only got through with the soldiers’ votes Friday. Applying the term “municipal” to the town where I live is a bit of a stretch; it’ more like a “village” around these parts. And in small town Israel, the race for mayor gets personal. There were three candidates – call them Herzl (also the current mayor), Yigal, and Yossi. There are three distinct neighborhoods in this town, with Herzl and Yossi being from the richer one, and Yigal from the working class neighborhood.
All three candidates were very active in pursuing votes – to the extent that they probably called or visited almost every one of the households in this town of about 8,000. I actually wrote a story about this town for the Jerusalem Post a few years ago, quoting Herzl liberally; since then he’s always gone out of his way to say hello to me at town events. Herzl spoke to me personally numerous times about how important it was to vote for him. He also had a web site, a jingle, and “robocalls” – trying to appeal to the high-tech vote, I guess.
Besides mayor, the parties represented by these three fellows were also running for spots on the town council. Two of the people on Yigal’s list live on my street, so of course I got numerous phone calls from them. After expressing an opinion to one of them, he kept me talking about how wonderful his guy was for nearly an hour! You’d think there wouldn’t be that much to talk about in a such a small town, but there you go. Not only that; on the night before the election, this neighbor brought Yigal over to my house (not the most convenient time, either) to chat about the issues – for 20 minutes! You’d think a candidate would have other things to do that try to convince two voters individually.
Yossi I never met, but he, too, had his agents out and about, calling up everyone they knew (including me). Same story: Vote for my guy because he’s the best (that’s why these people joined those lists, I guess).
In the end, Herzl won, Yigal came in second, and Yossi was a distant third. Monday morning quarterbacking, I could say that all the candidates used strategies from the high school political playbook – getting people to talk their friends into voting for them. Herzl did use more sophisticated methods (although I doubt that’s why he won). And Yossi’s commitment to the job was clearly not as strong as that of the other two, because he clearly didn’t press the flesh as much as the other two. Perhaps I should forward my findings to potential candidates for national office?
Karpal and Lobel snag a Nevada Lulu
Part Canadian, part Tel Avivian, pop singer-songwriter Emilly Karpal released her debut studio full-length album this past August. A collaboration with Tomer Adam Lenzinger, whom she met while working together on an Air remix, Nemashim (Freckles) has served Karpal’s career well, earning her considerable local airplay. One of the album’s key singles, the title track reached number 14 on the Reshet Gimmel radio station’s charts for Israeli music.
Now the cheeky, 80s-style bubblegum-electro retro-fest video clip for that single, below, has earned the performer some accolades from an unlikely source. Held in the low-key Nevada town of Pahrump, probably best known for being home to the Sheri’s Ranch brothel, the third annual High Desert Shorts International Film Festival has awarded $100 in cash prize money to Ofir Lobel for his work on the “Nemashim” video. The music video category’s competition was as stiff as can be expected from a community film festival, but Lobel’s slick work deserves kudos no matter what the scale of the context.
In addition to his music video work, Lobel, who has also spent lots of time in North America over the years, has served as a web-based news reporter and as a TV actor. He also has his own budding career as a musician.
In comments to the Israeli music video TV channel 24, Lobel has indicated that he hopes this award, nicknamed the Lulu, will open up career opportunities for him overseas. Karpal, on the other hand, said, “It’s fun that we’ve reached all the way to Nevada, since I’ve never even been there.”
Teapacks retires…
Referencing the once flourishing music scene they once called Sderot the “Seattle” of Israel due to the influential bands coming out of the area. The most popular of these bands was Teapacks who went on to be one of the top selling bands in the country and even represented Israel at the Eurovision song competition. Now before I moved to Israel back in 1997 my taste in Israeli music… was…uh…misguided. I’ll save myself the embarrassment and hold off on the listening habits of a previous life. I have my army buddies to thank for getting me in line.
When I was enrolled in Ulpan (intensive Hebrew course) I listened to Teapack’s earlier albums endlessly. They were an amalgamation of ethnic music and rock with somewhat witty lyrics. I learned a tremendous amount of Hebrew transcribing their lyrics. Their live show was always better than their records and I had the opportunity to see them probably about ten times.
As is the case with bands that have integrity, their sound evolved. My music tastes evolved as well and I no longer connected to their more disco pop oriented sound (though their lyrics remained filled with humor and wit). They are widely known for their song “Push the Button” which they performed at Eurovision in 2007 which was all about the threat of Nuclear destruction. I didn’t get it and certainly couldn’t connect with lyrics such as “I wanna see the flowers bloom/Don’t wanna go kaput kaboom.”
After over 18 years as a band, ten albums and numerous hits Teapacks is calling it quits. And not a moment too soon.
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