Googling Israeli streets

February 16, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Politics, Technology 

Street View in San Diego. Next stop: Tel Aviv?

Google’s “Street View” service is coming to Israel. Or is it?

In principle, “Street View” seems to be a terrific idea. In addition to seeing a map of a city, you can tour at street level, as if you’re actually walking down Jaffa Street in Jerusalem (watch out for the light rail trains, though!) Google does this by sending out cars with cameras to capture images that are then stitched together by Google’s magic elves.

The service exists all over the world although, since its inception in 2007, it has generated controversy in some places, Germany in particular, where it’s viewed as an invasion of privacy.

In Israel, Google Street View takes on another dimension: terrorism. Could enemy organizations use Street View to help plan attacks against Israeli cities or public figures, asks Haaretz?

It’s not a theoretical question. Hamas has been known to use Google Earth to help target and track the missiles it launches out of Gaza.

So what’s a small and precarious country to do? Set up a governmental committee, of course. A ministerial task force – headed by Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor, and including ministers Moshe Kahlon, Yossi Peled, Michael Eitan, Stas Misezhnikov and Limor Livnat – will probe the security concerns raised by Google’s service.

The committee will consider which streets and buildings to ban from the Googlemobiles, as well as which cities to allow (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for sure, Haifa maybe).

Beyond the cities, what of Israel’s sensitive military bases? Taking a more macro perspective than Street View, do online map services indiscreetly provide detailed instructions on how to get to, say, military intelligence headquarters?

If you know where to look, Google Maps will lead you right there. The local Walla Maps site, however, blocks out access, replacing army bases with empty agricultural fields.

I, for one, am glad to know that I am being defended from military threats by an ear of corn.

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Rebuilding Ikea

February 15, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Business, design, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness 

Both Rachel and David made their own comments about the Ikea fire in Netanya, but this cartoon commentary by The Wall, a self-proclaimed new media Tel Aviv advertising firm, really says it all.

First, the title: Natanya2011 How to Build Ikea Again; I’m not sure if the name Netanya was misspelled on purpose, as Israeli spelling in English — given that it’s not their first language — tends toward incorrections.


As for the rest of the piece: We have the obvious and necessary method of poking fun at Ikea instructions, as well as the obvious and necessary ways of poking fun at Israeli society. There are the four million wooden pegs, more than 2 million screws and just one Ikea Allen wrench. There are the 15 Solel Boneh trucks — Solel Boneh being one of the largest construction companies in Israel — the 40 Manofei Avi cranes, just your random crane company, the 1500 fire extinguishers, natch, and recognizable by the Arabic writing on their shirts and kaffiyehs on their heads, the 100 Arab construction workers necessary to rebuild the place, a comment on who does the building and construction in these parts.

By the way, it seems the fire was caused by a short circuit in the store’s electrical system. Plans are to rebuild within the year.

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Watching Big Brother

February 15, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Entertainment, General, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, tv 

Reality show fever is as big in Israel as it is in the US. Local versions of hit shows like A Star is Born (American Idol) and Dancing with the Stars, and especially (Ach Gadol) Big Brother, are among the top rated attractions on TV, telling you something about the need for escapism in our society.

Another biggie is the Israeli version of Beauty and the Geek (Hayefeh v’hanoun) which pairs comely young women with nerdy young men. Yesterday in our local mall, the producers staged an audition day where local residents aspiring to become cast members for next year’s third season could fill out an application, give a video audition and have a few minutes to impress the panel from the program.

A crowd of pre-teens and youth showed up to jostle for position outside the empty storefront that use to house Tower Records before it closed last monght. They were hoping for a glimpse of the would-be stars who arrived to audition, however they far outnumbered the actual contestants who had either the courage or the foolhardiness to enter the store and fill out the application.

Those that did were mostly female, with some sex appeal, and earnest expectations of being chosen for the show. While the handful of guys who showed up seemed like they were doing it as a good, very un-nerdlike.

Neither the male nor female applicants seemed like they had much to say, and are probably a good indicator of the audience who watches the show. As an interviewee last week on TV said who was being asked why Israelis weren’t amassing in the streets to protest rising prices in gas, water, bread and other basic neccessities, “We’re so stupid. We’re all inside watching Big Brother.”

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My funny valentine

February 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture 

I’ll contribute to the previous post by Brian about Valentine’s Day by saying that yes, my wife and I celebrated the day tonight – for the first time in as long as we can remember.

Thanks to joining GroopBuy, which Brian also wrote about a while ago, we nabbed a half-price meal at the Spaghetti Italian restaurant in the Mamilla Mall last month. We set aside February 14 as the night to go out, because we never went out on Valentine’s Day and it seemed like a good night to go out on one of our increasingly rare romantic dinner nights out.

On the road in, we passed a VW Beetle bug with a huge stuffed bear tied to the back holding a red pillow saying “I Love You.” Inside the restaurant, an older couple was wearing almost all red in celebration of the holiday, and a young guy surprised his date with a bouquet of flowers and a bouquet of red balloons.

So while it may be true that Valentine’s Day isn’t observed in Israel, it’s very clear that Israelis celebrate Valentine’s Day.

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Do Israelis celebrate Valentine’s Day?

February 14, 2011 by · 6 Comments
Filed under: Immigrant Moments, Life, Religion 

Do Israelis celebrate the international day of love?

It’s a question I’m asked from time to time, by both family in the U.S. and friends in Israel. Given that New Year’s Eve is widely celebrated (despite our already having a Jewish equivalent – Rosh Hashana) and Anglos often do something on the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, why should Valentine’s Day be any different? It’s not an overtly religious holiday like Christmas or Easter.

My wife and I have never commemorated the day, but that’s before we had a 17-year-old hopeless romantic daughter. “You’re getting Imma flowers or chocolates, right?” she demanded. “Um, no, I wasn’t planning to,” I responded. “It’s not our holiday in Israel.”

“Do celebrate Tu B’av?” she then asked. Tu B’av, the 15th day of the month of Av, is the Jewish calendar’s official “day of love.” It takes place in the summer and traditionally was a time when, according to the Talmud, “the unmarried girls of Jerusalem would dress in white garments and go out to dance in the vineyards.” These days, it’s a propitious day to get married.

“No, we don’t celebrate Tu B’av either,” I said to my teenager. To which she replied simply “Nu” – essentially “what are you waiting for?” – and gave me a withering look.

And that’s how, despite my Zionist protestations, I walked over to nearby Emek Refaim Street today and bought my wife a bouquet of red and white roses. I attached a note that read “even though I know we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, you deserve something special.”

That’s something you can do on any day of the year.

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