Obama’s inauguration enraptures Israelis

January 21, 2009 - 6:08 PM by Harry · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Politics, War 

Obama-themed celebrationsWith the Gaza ceasefire apparently taking hold, Israelis have been happy to have something new upon which to fixate our attentions in the news. Something hopeful. US President Barack Obama’s inauguration yesterday and the festivities surrounding it this whole week have kept Israelis enraptured.

The one exception to this trend might be American immigrants to Israel, who tend to be a Republican-leaning crowd, often because of the popular perception that the American Right is more friendly to Israel than the Left. This perception might or might not be true, but Americans living in Israel are certainly wary of Obama’s alleged lack of Zionism.

So despite citing nightlife-themed parties surrounding the inauguration which took place in Tel Aviv as well as Jerusalem, a Haaretz piece from earlier this week points out that mainstream American organizations were shying away from the event:

Neither the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel nor the American Israeli Action Coalition – two non-partisan groups – have planned any special activities to mark the swearing-in of the new president. A spokesman for Israelis for Obama, a small group that was formed before the elections and operated mainly online, told Haaretz the group had dissolved after completing it’s only goal of seeing Obama elected.

But even though George Bush is considered by the people here to have been a great friend to the country, most Israelis are optimistic about new blood inhabiting the White House. The Associated Press even hints at some more literal connections between the Israeli appetite for inauguration news coverage and the Gaza ceasefire:

Obama’s inauguration became the lead story in Israeli media, which had been dominated by coverage of the Gaza offensive that began with a massive air bombardment on Dec. 27.

The front page of Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s biggest daily newspaper, featured the smiling Obama and his wife over an English headline: “Good luck.”

Seemingly timing its withdrawal to Tuesday’s inauguration, Israel had already pulled most of its troops out of the ravaged Gaza Strip after a deadly three-week offensive aimed at halting years of militant rocket fire. But the crisis is not over, with reports of shooting along the Israel-Gaza border, and with Israeli soldiers poised to resume the assault if Gaza militants break a fragile cease-fire.

Maybe it’s simply a matter of the incoming president’s rock star-like status, but Obama buzz is not relegated to Democrats – even when it comes to Americans living here. Summing up the feelings at last night’s parties, today Haaretz quotes a young reveler named Guy Simen:

“Even people who did not support Obama are excited, because they know the whole world is watching this event – and they feel close to home. They know that now we’ve elected a man who is supposed to change the world and many people are proud to be Americans.”

Image courtesy lostintransitzine from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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What Becomes of Ex-Presidents

December 20, 2008 - 10:11 PM by DavidS · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics 

The may not much like soon to be former President George Bush in the U.S. – or in Iraq – and now that he’s leaving office, he may have a future in Israel – with his name emblazoned in lights on a business!

Most people will remember that Bush received a very high approval rating among Israelis when he came here at the beginning of 2008. Now, with Bush ready to leave office, Israeli commentators will be coming out with articles like this one looking back with nostalgia at the positive relationship between Israel and Bush.

Tough on the outside but sweet on the inside, Israelis are actually very sentimental – and have a good business sense, as well. So the chances of some ingenious Israeli adopting the name “Bush” for their business are good (maybe for a gardening service?). Admittedly, “Coffee Annan,” named after former UN Secretary Kofi Annan, was too obvious not to do something with. But other than having eaten it, Bill Clinton had little if anything to do with pizza – but that didn’t stop this Jerusalem entrepreneur from using the ex-president’s name to promote his slices. And chances are business will improve dramatically now that Hillary is going to be Secretary of State!

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Eschatology, Israel Style

November 6, 2008 - 12:41 PM by DavidS · 1 Comment
Filed under: General 

A small country risen after centuries of exile and wandering, surrounded by enemies that seek to destroy it, with a large religious population – it’s an eschatologist’s dream. Jews in general, and especially Israelis, are experts in seeking out signs of “the end,” the final redemption in which the Messiah comes and declares the victory of the Kingdom of G-d.
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As an observant person, I subscribe to the idea of the Messiah, who can come at any moment and redeem the Jewish people The Talmud discusses various scenarios of what that redemption would mean, and the circumstances under which it would occur. Then there’s the “great war” that is to precede the coming of the Messiah – the War of Gog and Magog, which may or may not be a prerequisite to the final redemption. Rabbinical opinion on the identity of this entity also varies, with some attributing it to a specific king/nation, and others describing it as a force.

In other words, the subject is one of deep mystery – as Maimonides says, these matters “cannot be [clearly] known by man until they occur, for they are undefined in the words of the prophets.” There really is no point speculating on the identity of Gog, Magog, the Messiah, or any of the other features of the “final days,” Maimonides says – we won’t understand the scenarios laid out by the prophets until they actually occur.

But of course, Maimonides’ logical approach to the subject is not shared by everyone. There are many who insist on speculating on the identities of all the figures and events described by the prophets regarding the coming of the Messiah – in fact, a cottage industry in such speculation has sprung up in recent years, aided by the “advances” in the “science of Torah codes,” where hints of current or future events are discovered by counting off equidistant letter sequences in the Torah. There are several web sites, and at least one best selling book, that purport to show that historical and current events were predicted by the Torah, using various code combinations. And, of course, future events, as well. But they don’t always work as their boosters hope they will.

Latest evidence: Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States. For Israelis, Obama is a mystery – other than what he said during his campaign, little is known about his views on Israel, the Middle East, the peace process, etc. In recent weeks, there has been all sorts of speculation – on the one hand, he supposedly palled around with PLO supporter Rashid Khalidi of Columbia, and on the other hand, his Chief of Staff is going to be, according to media reports, Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, whose parents are Israeli (his dad was a member of Menachem Begin’s Irgun, no less), and who himself volunteered in the IDF. Go figure!

But the arrival of a new president – especially one as exotic as Obama – is a gold mine for those looking for “hints” of the future. Add that to Torah codes methodology – and you come up with the formula cited at http://tinyurl.com/5n9w3r (page is in Hebrew), where the name “Obama” appears in code in the book of Ezekiel, smack in the middle of where the Prophet discusses Gog. Busted! And Obama, who seeks to “unify” everyone, is a perfect candidate – his “unity” program is, according to this theory, to get the rest of the world to gang up on Israel!

But Obama has some competition for the title of Gog – George Bush! According to http://tinyurl.com/5dxy6a, (a page created in 2002), it’s Bush who is Gog, based on a couple of complicated formulas in Genesis and the Book of Isaiah. Even his name is suspicious: Drop one letter from the Hebrew spelling of “George,” and you get you know who!

Well, Bush still has 75 days to go Gog over Israel, although it’s hard to figure how a lame duck president would get away with that. As far as Obama is concerned, I’m betting he has a lot more on his plate than our chronic controversy with the Arabs of this land. But here’s my question: If Bush fails to fulfill his Goggist legacy, does that mean the mantle automatically passes to Obama? Or does it mean that Obama gets a pass, too? Gotta love that Eschatology!

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