The outgoing President of the High Court of Justice, Mrs. Esther Hayut, was just about to take a short nap in her office when the energetic new intern entered her room with the mail and tea she loved. A serious guy, boy. Outstanding is a brilliant dean, who, for once, was not accepted for an internship because of a family connection to any fellow judge. It is important not to stick to the method, but to try other ways as well, Mrs. Hayut noted to herself with satisfaction. Trial and error.
But the devastating news unexpectedly landed on her and erased her smile: a synagogue newsletter called "Shevi'i," it turned out, was about to publish a cartoon starring her. And not just any cartoon - but one that actually mocks it.
By the time the extent of the horror became clear, Mr. President had already managed, exactly according to standard procedure, to dictate a shocked anonymous draft response to her two personal spokesmen at Channel 13 News, who went on a conference call for advice, and especially for the moral support that is so necessary at such moments.
"You were painted doing something that didn't happen," a reporter said in shock. "This is undoubtedly an explicit call for violence, they're trying to keep your mouth shut!" said Commentator B. "Think positively, Esterka," added friend Dorit Beinish, who joined the conversation, "at least he didn't shout 'shame sentences' in the street." Everyone muttered, "God forbid, God forbid!" The memory still hurt.
Everyone except the intern: "If her heir, her honor, it's indeed an illustration in bad taste," he said, and quickly corrected after a blinkered glance from the president, "I mean, a horrifying and sickening illustration! A real horror! But... It doesn't really contain incitement to violence. And certainly not a gag."
This intern was no longer present at the follow-up meeting, nor at any other meeting. Surely a "Dean's List" will teach me about incitement, the president thought to herself, who had to come to her senses quickly, since specially called expert investigators cross-checked data and summed up the severe emergency: a cartoon starring the president will appear in a synagogue newsletter called "Shevi'i," which is distributed in different minyanim every Shabbat, sometimes randomly.
Once again, it was the retiring president Hayut who took charge first: "We have less than 24 hours to save the citizens of Israel from this sight. This is the most shocking painting seen in Israel in the past year."
"It's not fair," the president said sadly. "I was so careful during this delicate time," she whispered. "Apart from a few quirks asked for Basic Laws, I made sure to finish my term without drama or controversial decisions – and that's the reward?" "Truly shocking," agreed Reporter A. "It's impossible for every right-wing cartoonist to suddenly start painting whatever he wants like a dictator," added commentator B. "How unconscious they are," Beinish added, "it's a real shame that no one is holding up a mirror to them."
Once again, it was the retiring president Hayut who took charge first: "We have less than 24 hours to save the citizens of Israel from this sight. This is the most shocking painting seen in Israel in the past year."
At the 94th minute, just before the disaster and after a heroic battle that included countless threatening letters and briefings, the seventh synagogue newsletter, distributed throughout the country on Saturdays, announced its surrender to remove the caricature. Just before her retirement, the Honorable President of the High Court of Justice looked the enemy in the eye - and could. Democracy was saved again.
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