Foto Friday – Post-Election Fun

February 20, 2009 - 5:27 PM by Rachel Neiman · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Politics, Pop Culture 

This just in: President Shimon Peres has tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government. And so, the coalition-building process begins. Against the background of political posturing, jockeying for positions and a moment before disillusionment sets in, Tomeriko, photographer, photo editor and informal archivist of Israeli press photographers, has posted a new series of images on his Israel Press Flickr photostream. Entitled Elections 2009, it provides a humorous behind-the-scenes peek at the recent elections.

elections_09_koko Photo by Koko, courtesy of Israel Press

The series, contributed by any number of Israeli press photographers working for various media outlets, deals with the run-up to election day, including things that people living outside Israel might not have known about.

elections_09_koko_2Photo by Koko, courtesy of Israel Press

For example, Kadima party head Tzipi Livni on the cover of womens magazine La’Isha. When she was a little girl, could she ever have imagined this day would come?

elections_09_idan_kenanPhoto by Idan Kenan, courtesy of Israel Press

Inevitably, there are instances of campaign poster abuse…

elections_09_aviad_hermanPhoto by Aviad Herman, courtesy of Israel Press

With some enthusiastic party workers perhaps taking the “green” message a tad to far…

elections_09_tomer_matazfiPhoto by Tamar Matsafi, courtesy of Israel Press

There are those who use election day to promote their own personal agenda…

elections_09_adi_yisrael_2Photo by Adi Yisrael, courtesy of Israel Press

And some who just tag along…

elections_09_alex_kolomoiskyPhoto by Alex Kolomoisky, courtesy of Israel Press

But the big question remains: do we know which way we’re actually going?

elections_09_adi_yisrael_1Photo by Adi Yisrael, courtesy of Israel Press

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The Quiet Within the Storm

December 28, 2008 - 1:35 AM by DavidS · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics, War 

You have to give Israelis credit; when the chips are down, even the ones who aren’t necessarily suspected of idealism come shining through.

As Israel went to war against Hamas over the weekend, the leaders of the major political parties all decided to suspend their political campaigns for the duration of the operation – which, both Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak said could be lengthy. Barak, who leades the Labor Party, said that he had to concentrate on the operation and had no time for politics.

The Likud, too, suspended its campaign, and has put on hold a radio campaign featuring ads attacking Kadima chief and Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni. Posters that bear the campaign’s tagline – “Tsipi, the job is too big for you” – that have already been put up will be taken down. In a statement Saturday night, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu said that “there is a time for debate and a time for unity, and today is a time for unity,” he said. “If our enemies thought we would not be united under rocket fire, they were wrong. The cannons roar, but we are united.”

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With the elections coming just about a month from now – and the gap between the Likud and Kadima narrowing, according to the latest polls – the suspension of campaigning is really extraordinary. It wouldn’t be surprising for opposition politicians, for example, to accuse the government of timing its operation to cynically improve its standing in the polls, giving it a “January surprise” type of bounce that could sustain it until the elections. But no – politicians on the left and the right spontaneously announced (without any coordination, as far as I could tell) that they were holding off on the negative noise we are set to be subject to. Not that any Israeli, given the choice, wouldn’t opt for the noise if it meant that the south was secure. But it does show that our political leaders and would-be leaders are a better caliber than we usually give them credit for being.

(Photo courtesy One Family Fund)

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