Meet Israel’s newest cabinet minister

June 10, 2009 - 11:09 AM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Politics, Pop Culture, Profiles 

Sasson Gabai (center) plays Ruby Polishuk.

Sasson Gabai (center) plays Ruby Polishuk.

Ruby Polishuk is an Israeli cabinet minister who has no idea what he’s doing. Luckily he’s fictional.

Polishuk is the main character in the series of the same name which Channel 2 started airing a couple weeks ago every Sunday and Monday evenings. Modeled in part after the British political satire The Thick of It, Polishuk is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes frightening, but always entertaining series poking fun at Israeli society and the upper echelon who, through sheer luck or political expediency, end up in the corridors of power.

The series stars Sasson Gabai, who shined in the film The Band’s Visit, as the bumbling Polishuk, who rises from well-meaning, but largely incompetent back bench MK for the fictitious National Liberal Center party to his ministerial appointment following the arrest of the current minister on suspicions of pedophilia.

Polishuk’s handlers – party leader Humi Schalit, played like a Tommy Lapid tribute by journalist Amnon Dankner, and Schalit’s A-type, foul-mouthed media advisor Kozo Avital, played by Guy Loel – are solely concerned with keeping the new minister out of the spotlight and quiet in his corner as minister of advancement in society. And they woefully fail, as Polishuk becomes a laughing stock/everyman hero.

The rapid banter and earthy language are true to the nature of Israeli culture, said the show’s creator, writer and director Shmuel Hasfari.

“I talked to people who surround the ministers and MKs – like drivers and secretaries and aides. On a show like this, the dialogue, besides being ‘harif’, has to be precise and to the point. There’s no time for nonsense. So, if you took a full day in a minister’s life and reduced it to five minutes of highlights, I think it’s pretty accurately reflected in our show,” Hasfari told me.

How plausible is the show? Way too much, says Hasfari, who in an illustrious theater career has become known as an outspoken supporter of left-wing causes. However, Polishuk clearly plays no favorites in skewering both the left and right sides of the Israeli political system.

“It certainly frightens me that there are likely several Polishuks in the Knesset,” said Hasfari. “It’s all part of the problem of our electoral system here. All you need is a strong, charismatic leader like Ariel Sharon, or Rafael Eitan or Lapid, and you can bring in another 10 or 12 MKs on your coattails, who are totally unknown. Does anyone really know who the Shas MKs are? Out of the 120 MKs, there are probably 50 Polishuks, but probably not as nice as him.”

After Polishuk, I’ll never watch the Knesset channel in the same way.

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