A quality of life snapshot of Israel

May 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life 

When there's not enough space in the house, Israelis head out to the beach.

Apparently we’re quite fertile here in Israel, but we don’t have a lot of space to house all of our offspring.

According to a newly released ‘Better Life Index’ compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Israel has the highest fertility rate of all countries in the OECD, with an average of 2.96 children per household, above the average of 1.74. The country with the second-highest birthrate is Iceland, with 2.22 children per household.

However, like the old lady in the shoe, we’re not really prepared for the ramifications of our amorous ways. The average home in Israel has 1.1 rooms per person, which is less than the OECD average of 1.6.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with sharing a room with your siblings. But there’s also the issues of bathrooms. 4.4 percent of dwellings in Israel lack private access to indoor toilets, in contrast to the OECD average of 2.5%. So not only are we waiting behind our family to go to the bathroom, some of us are waiting outside.

According to a Globes story on the OECD report, Israel registers erratically under economic indicators: average household disposable income in Israel, after taxes, is $19,456, which is lower than the OECD average of $22,284, average household wealth, which also measures real-estate assets and the total value of a household’s financial worth, is $62,684, compared with the OECD average of $36,808, and the number of working-age (15-64) Israelis who have a paid job is 59%, below the OECD average of 65%.

Israel also has the second-highest income poverty rate in the OECD, coming in only behind Mexico. While the OECD average of income poverty is 11.1%, 20% of Israelis qualify as living in poverty. In addition, 39% of Israelis “find it difficult or very difficult to live on their current income,” a much higher rate than the average of 24%.

While the average life expectancy in Israel is 81.1 years, above the OECD average of 79.3, Israelis were found not to be so satisfied with that extra time. We ranked the 6th lowest in terms of feeling well-rested, being treated with respect, smiling and experiencing enjoyment. Also, more Israelis reported negative experiences (pain, worry, sadness, stress and depression) than any other country in the OECD.

I guess people in other countries never had to sit through the endless stream of commercials on Channels 2 and 10, which prompts most of those emotions nightly. But hey, a little pain, depression and being treated disrespectfully is all part of the Israeli experience. And, after all, we still have humous!

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My own proposal for land swaps

May 25, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Politics 

Obama at AIPAC

OK, so we all know by now that U.S. President Obama made it official American policy what most Israelis have known for years: that any peace agreement with the Palestinians will have to be based on the 1967 lines with “land swaps.” And we also know that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that, while the 1967 lines are indefensible, he’s nevertheless ready to make “painful compromises” (with lots of preconditions, of course) for peace.

Obama has been vague about what exactly these land swaps would consist of, but his “clarification” speech a few days later at the AIPAC conference came closer to the does-it-exist-or-not Bush letter to Ariel Sharon in 2004 where the then-president stated that any agreement would have to take into account “new realities on the ground.”

While these demographic changes are widely assumed to refer to the major settlement blocks (including the large neighborhoods built in Jerusalem post-1967), I have another idea. Let’s set the borders based on convenient transportation routes.

Here’s my proposal: in addition to incorporating Ma’aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, Israel needs to keep Highway 90 north that allows Jerusalemites to get to Tiberius quickly via the Jordan Valley. Ditto for Highway 90 going south to the Dead Sea. Who wants to add two hours of driving to get to Ein Gedi by way of Arad? Forget the security issues – think of the economic damage to the hotels near Masada!

And we need to hold on to Highway 443 that runs from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv – otherwise Highway 1 is just going to be one endless parking lot at rush hour. Israel has spent a lot of money upgrading 443, and the checkpoints are really quite lovely these days, don’t you think. “New realities on the ground” must certainly refer to making it easy to get to the growing city of Modi’in, right?

So, come on, Bibi, go ahead and say it. “The 1967 lines are indefensible. That is, my fellow Israelis will kill me if their commute time doubles. You can have your right of return, as long as we keep our right of way.”

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1967 car-for-land swap

May 24, 2011 by · 4 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, News, Politics, War 

The key to Mideast peace? A 1967 Ford Mustang

It’s an understatement that all the talk in the last few days about 1967 borders coming from President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has caused some tension between the two leaders.

It seems like everyone’s interpreting the statements from both sides in a selective way, hearing what they want and disregarding the rest. But one thing is clear, if Israel and the US are at odds over what the borders of a future Palestinian state are going to look like (never mind that the Palestinians have their own idea on the matter), then the tension is likely to continue and intensify.

One creative idea that’s being touted as a way to improve any potential schism in the relationship between Israel and the US is coming from an Israeli think tank – The Jewish People Policy Institute.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the JPPI is planning to recommend to the Cabinet that Israel replace its fleet of 50,000 government-owned vehicles that are currently Japanese, German and eastern European models with all-American brands.

Switching Israel’s fleet over to vehicles from Ford, GM and Chrysler would “be a strong symbol to show that we care about the U.S. economy,” the JPPI’s president, Avinoam Bar-Yosef, told the Free Press.

“It’s the kind of signal that you send to the American people, and the administration, that we’re with you. That we want to help you and your industries succeed,” Bar-Yosef said. “We believe it would have an impact. And it doesn’t have to stop with cars.”

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., said she strongly supports the idea, calling it “the right recommendation for all the right reasons. There is reciprocity in all relationships, and I think it would be a very good move,” Miller said. “I would hope the Israeli government adopts it.”

Traditionally, due to lack of space, most popular cars on the market are Japanese or European compact or midis – the big American gas guzzlers don’t go over well here, with gas prices unspeakably high. But with American manufacturers adjusting their models as gas prices have also skyrocketed in the US, the American models are now more viable in Israel.

Maybe to make the deal even more attractive though, and to tie in with the 1967 concept, the new Israeli fleet of American cars should all be vintage ’67 models – Chevy Impalas, Pontiac Firebirds and Ford Galaxies. That would enable ordinary drivers to identify the VIPs from a distance and move out of the way.

And maybe to complete the ’67 theme, the remaining Beatles – Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will reunite and record Sgt Pepper II.

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Israeli giving US television the treatment

May 23, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Entertainment, General, Israeliness, Pop Culture, tv 

The cast of the American version of 'Ramzor' - called 'Traffic Light.' They look too well adusted to be Israeli.

With some Israeli artists and performers winning awards in Cannes and others fleeing for their lives in Turkey, Israeli arts abroad are having their ups and downs

However, there seems to be one realm in which we are evidently increasingly accepted and held in high stature – American TV

According to a report in the business newspaper Globes, US studios have bought ten Israeli series in the past two years as they search for fresh content.

Ever since actress/producer Noa Tishby brokered a deal a few years ago to sell Haggai Levy’s show ‘B’Tipul’ to HBO which adapted it as ‘In Treatment,’ the floodgates have opened up.

Since then, US studios have bought ten Israeli shows, including “Kidnapped (whose American version is now being shot in Israel), “Naor’s Friends”, “The Mythological X”, and “Ramzor” (whose US version, “Traffic Light” was recently canceled after disappointing ratings, which its Israeli producer Adir Miller attributed, in an interview with Globes, to changes made to the US version).

Two weeks ago, the Financial Times reported on the buzz surrounding the quality of Israeli content, implying that American content was poor compared with the flood of refreshing drama on Israeli TV. The paper said that Israel was becoming a content powerhouse – and cheap.

That buzz has evidently reached some powerful ears. According to the Globes report, Israeli producer Tzafrir Kochanovsky has hooked up with Steven Spielberg to develop a big-budget science fiction series for Dreamworks. “It is a mix of the “X Files” and “The Da Vinci Code”,” Kochanovsky told “Globes”.

And Spielberg is evidently also working with Phil Rosenthal (the producer of “Everybody Loves Raymond”) and Israeli producers on a drama series that will take place at Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek Medical Center, where Rosenthal is involved in fundraising efforts. TNT has bought the series and filming will begin on site next year.

Hollywood’s interest in all things Israel has prompted one producer, Oded Turgeman to launch Operating Room a content company that functions as a “shortcut to Hollywood.” Globes reported that Turgeman, a graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem said that there are backers for developing Israeli content and projects for Hollywood.

So, the next time you go channel surfing in the US, keep an eye out for the credits. You’re likely to see someone Israeli.

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The latest Israeli celeb

May 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Blogging, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Movies, Pop Culture 

Gal in the Fast Five movie poster in the homeland

The latest Israel celeb on the publicity trail is newly minted actress and Miss Israel 2004, Gal Gadot. She’s playing the feminine but tough Gisele Harabo in the newly released “Fast Five” film with a bunch of tough guys, including Vin Diesel.

As she tells Curt Schleier in The Forward’s Shmooze blog, she led the life of a fairly regular Israeli teenager until winning the Miss Israel pageant — although she was clearly heading in that direction for a while. She then modeled for three years before serving her full two years in the IDF as a fitness instructor.

After finishing her army service, Gadot was cast for Fast & Furious, the fourth installment in the series, and she told Schleier that director Justin Lin used her weapons knowledge to good effect in the film:

Giselle is not Israeli. How was it decided to now have it that she worked with the Mossad?

You don’t have to be an Israeli to work with Mossad. [Director] Justin Lin and I knew we were going to work on [three films together], and we wanted her to evolve. I think the main reason was that Justin really liked that I was in the Israeli military, and he wanted to use my knowledge of weapons.

According to IGN’s Babe of the Day posting, Gadot is “not only an ass-kicking action movie hottie, but she’s got the skills to back it up. At just 25 [now 26], Gal Gadot has already served in the Israeli Defense Forces and now as our Babe of the Day.”

The famous Maxim photo

IGN notes that the world began taking notice of Ms. Gadot after being featured in Maxim Magazine’s “Women of the Israeli army” photo shoot, when her photo was featured on the launch party invite and then on the cover of the New York Post.

Good luck to Gal.

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