Tali Gottlieb talking to the protesters outside her house, February 20, 2023 (documentation on social networks according to Article 27 A of the Copyright Law)
One of the stupid clichés heard in our districts over and over again is: "If both sides are angry, I must have done something right."
Those who use it are usually those who try to find the "middle way", the "center", all those concepts designed to cover the fact that they don't really want to commit to a real opinion.
It's quite possible they don't have one.
Yair Lapid is the embodiment of this character: the man who wants to be a leader but without giving a speech at a demonstration, the man who wants to be an alternative but always seems like he doesn't really want to.
And most of all, Yair Lapid is the embodiment of the tragedy unfolding in Israel these days.
The figure who is supposedly supposed to be the face of this protest, the symbol of liberal, western, democratic Israeliness, the man who made a living from writing and is unable to understand the magnitude of the moment he has fallen into.
On the morning of the day when the Israeli Knesset passed in its first reading a law that would allow the politicization of the appointment of judges in all Israeli courts, and at the same time would prohibit judges from interfering with fundamental laws (such as the one that would qualify a person disqualified by that court to serve as a minister) - the opposition leader decided to open a " Strong condemnation" of those who do their job and fight for the democratic image of the country. Lapid likes to speak at demonstrations, he likes the pathos, the attention, the feeling that he is once again that old columnist - the one who can speak to everyone in clichés that sound good but are also not binding For nothing or God forbid hurting someone. Protest? Struggle? Getting your hands dirty for a cause? It's not for him.
Of course, the immediate suspects joined the celebration, those who are supposed to be covering reality here but are actually perpetuating the "culture of shock".
After Ofer Hadad led the crowd last week on a completely legitimate quote from Ron Huldai, this time it was Yaron Avraham.
"Everything was found in a very crazy mess," reported the tone of "Where have we come" while talking with Niv Raskin, a serious explanation, on Keshet's morning show.
In the evening edition, Avraham already went as far as "today's ugly incident", as if in the Knesset at that very moment a unicorn law was being brought up for every child.
One could be mistaken and think that the protesters broke into the house and tried to harm Gottlieb or her daughter, or did something active to harass a girl with special needs, rather than seven people who were arguing with each other in the hallway, and politely agreed with Gottlieb on the moment they would leave to allow her to bring her daughter to the frame.
Of course, all this did not prevent the screams of the "animals" and the "anarchists" in the Knesset later, the demand from the Shin Bet to arrest demonstrators, and of course the group of supporters and defenders from the best members of the opposition. Late at night, they will also be photographed smiling next to Netanyahu, as if to prove How truly the whole event is a show for them.
More in Walla!
Simcha Rothman is indeed drunk on power, but that does not mean that the media should bow to him
To the full article
twitter twitter
How sacred is this cackling culture, and who but Amit Segal will lead it.
"It was a day full of verbal violence and also, in a certain sense, physical violence in the Knesset," he began in a monologue while in the nearby plenary hall, a minister in the Ministry of Justice was screaming his heart out that the judges are "violent people who think they are God."
Then came "you can't avoid the thought of what would have happened if it had been right-wing activists".
Well, one can actually imagine: while the "anarchists on the left" reached their climax by knocking on the windows in the guest stands, those on the right mirrored and continue to make the lives of Knesset members, legal advisors and lawyers and their families miserable, until the level of security is increased to the maximum.
Some of those activists walked around the Knesset yesterday and got involved with Likud people.
I don't remember speeches of rebuke from leading commentators then.
The woman whom Lapid "hugned" and "strengthened" is indeed the mother of a child on the autistic spectrum, but also one of the repulsive, blatant and oppressive symbols of the current government.
A man who not only humiliated and humiliated everyone who dared to speak against the coup d'état in the Constitutional Committee, but who blatantly underestimated the pain of the demonstrators, the demonstrations, the judges, the legal advisors, the president, the media and we will stop here because this column will not end.
True, the incident outside her house was not one that easily slipped down the throat, but the general situation outside is far from utopian.
More in Walla!
"Lack of collegiality and humanity": Amnon Levy interviewed Yair Sharki's father - and caught fire
To the full article
What will Lapid and the cricketers say to all those children who will live in a time when the US will listen to Amichai Shikli and "stop meddling in Israel's affairs" - including writing checks and automatic support, or to girls who will grow up in a country where immodest clothing will land them in prison, or to children whose parents work in a corporation , or for those whose freedom of expression will be harmed by arbitrary legislation, or for soldiers who will not be able to travel abroad without being arrested?
How ironic that Gottlieb's first reaction was of course a metaphorical spit in Lapid's face.
"Is he sending me a hug?" she asked, "Yair Lapid is only speaking from a position."
But that's not the position, it's something much more serious.
Even on a day when a handful of extremist politicians are forcing economic, constitutional and political suicide on the country, Lapid remains focused on the only thing that has always interested him: himself.
And in this attempt to embrace but also to protest, to preach but also to condemn, he also remained more or less with himself.
The fact that on the right and on the left there are those who see him as guilty is not fate nor proof of the nature of his actions.
This is mainly the proof that this metaphorical middle road that he has tried to follow since time immemorial - ever since those days of the mythological weekly column - is not suitable for the times we have reached.
And the fact that in the news coverage the crooked noses join him, makes them look like those who don't understand what is really happening in front of their eyes.
More in Walla!
The conflict as a cliché: "East Side" is a poor and flawed thriller about the explosiveness of Jerusalem
To the full article
Leader of the click culture.
Amit Segal (photo: screenshot, News 12)
Hundreds of thousands of people protesting every week in Tel Aviv, huge demonstrations in Jerusalem, petitions, letters, warnings, pleas, leaders from the past and present, from Israel and the world, businessmen, security experts, doctors, economists, lawyers, none of this leads to a shred of insight on the side of the lust for power.
Therefore, even if it is a little unpleasant and even if in other times it might have been possible otherwise, the role of Lapid and the cricketers today is neither to condemn nor to educate.
Thank God, we have Benny Gantz for that.
The way of this protest may not be his way, but unlike him at least it has some kind of way.
So far we haven't received even a fraction of proof that the protest participants are less valuable, less responsible or less patriotic than the preachers, the statesmen and the seekers of "balance".
Not much is needed from a torch at this stage.
There have been no great expectations for a long time.
The minimum is that he at least will not sabotage the protest he was supposed to lead, that he will not give himself a stack of spin to those who need any excuse to talk about anything other than what is happening in the Knesset.
In post-coup Israel, many children and adults will experience tense mornings, and one can be fairly certain that Tali Gottlieb will not send them a hug.
What do you know, she didn't tell the truth.
Tali Gottlieb (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)
Speaking of people who spent their whole lives looking for the middle ground and didn't understand where the love they were promised was, there is also the man who currently holds the title of the number one citizen.
A very clear line runs between Herzog and Lapid, minus the charisma.
Herzog knows that communication is not his forte, there are too many examples of this - the latest of which is his shaky announcement of the compromise outline.
But charisma and courage should not be confused.
Herzog may not be able to light a fire (or put it out) in others with an inaugural speech, but he can certainly tell it like it is.
Every moment that passes without him doing so, causes the inaction to define him.
The outline presented by Herzog is problematic in itself, but from the moment of the first reading vote, it is no longer relevant.
He knows very well the meaning of the insistence on passing the laws on the first reading: a gun aimed at the temple.
It is not possible to hold a real discussion on any compromise, when the boundaries of the decree have already been determined by one of the parties, who can also decide at any moment that he is tired of talking and finish the two additional readings quickly.
Of all the nightmares that must have gone through his mind when he was appointed to this position, being the symbol of a post-democratic country is the most horrifying of all.
And yes, even for him it will be difficult, a real tearing of the Red Sea.
It's against his character, it's the reason why he wanted this position so badly that it would take him out of the hoplite field, but it's also inevitable.
If Herzog does not vote clearly for the side that is trying to overturn the Declaration of Independence, he will become the first president of dictatorial Israel.
culture
TV
TV review
Tags
Yair Lapid
Yaron Avraham
Amit Segal
Tali Gottlieb
TV review
