Normally I like to write about the small oddities that catch my eye in the course of a day here, however a few days ago I was flipping through Facebook —where I spend far too much time these days — and I noticed this advertisement, which I feel belongs in the “larger oddity” collection. Could any of us have imagined even a year ago that we would be welcome to come from Israel to celebrate Passover (!) in the United Arab Emirates?
No, I thought not. This is from the Dubai Marina Hotel.
You would think that Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who engineered this surprising rapprochement — and then went on to ensure the full vaccination of some 85% of Israeli adults — would have waltzed his way to election victory a week ago. But such is the dysfunction (politely speaking) of Israels’s proportional representation system, combined with a plethora of special interest parties and big egos, (not to mention the small matter of his criminal trial), that the fourth election in two years was so indecisive that it could well lead to a fifth in a matter of months. This is all good news for the pundits and talking heads, but not for anyone else.
The polling station for our normally sedate neighbourhood was in a school right across from our apartment, and we had an excellent view of the action. To say that there was a festive air about it is to understate the matter. Most of the mainstream parties set up booths and man them with enthusiastic young supporters trying to make a last minute pitch to the undecided — or anyone else. If an actual party leader shows up (and at least one did) the place erupts in chanting, drumming and general mayhem. This is apparently illegal within 100 metres of the polling station…
Election day in Israel is a real holiday — a day off work — with cafes, restaurants and stores thronged with people, and afternoon barbecues taking place all over town. Any excuse for a party is welcome, especially after a year of Corona lockdowns. Even Mike and I got into the act and had a few people over for lunch. It felt a bit surreal to compare the street scenes on Election Day to those from just a few weeks earlier.
And one more unexpected encounter…
By way of background, we have long wanted to meet Vivian Bercovici, the former Canadian Ambassador to Israel (2014-2016) — now a journalist living in Tel Aviv — who writes intelligent, insightful, and often witty pieces for a number of papers, including the National Post. Through a mutual friend we finally arranged a small dinner for the four of us at our place, shortly before the election. It would be, we hoped, a relaxed and convivial evening full of interesting conversation about politics and life in Israel. To tell you the truth, I was a bit nervous — after all she had been an ambassador— so I spent the day madly cleaning up the apartment, and fretting over the menu so as not to make a bad impression. In the worst case, I figured that since she is originally from Toronto, we would all find common ground, even if I did put a foot wrong (diplomatically speaking).
So as she arrived — before the door even closed behind her — she immediately turned to Mike and asked if he was Sheila Shain’s brother! Okay — we were off to the races. It turns out that Vivian grew up right across the street from the Shain family in Bathurst Manor (affectionately known as “the Manor”), a tight- knit Jewish neighbourhood in northwestern Toronto, which has imbued in its former residents a near mythic level of nostalgia. (Albeit with no desire to go back and actually live there.) Within a nanosecond she and Mike were deep down memory lane; so far did they travel, that it took us quite a while to get out of the Manor and back into politics, Israeli vs Canadian life, and other topics of interest that I had fondly imagined discussing. I felt kind of bad for our other guest, the mutual friend that arranged the evening. He is from Ottawa.
It was a great evening. I had no idea diplomats could be so much fun. There was wine…
I realize that my brief analysis of the Israeli election was perhaps lacking in nuance, so for those who would like to learn a bit more (without investing tons of time), I attach a link to Vivian’s latest article. Enjoy — or weep —depending on your perspective. (I lean to the latter.)