Obama, McCain, Work, and Tel Aviv talk...

Tourist advertisement for Turkey

The Jewish holidays are officially over. It's back to work in Tel Aviv. If you are not familiar with the holidays in Israel welcome to about 4 weeks of half days, days off, and a great deal of people going on vacation to Turkey. Why Turkey? It's NOT Israel so they are going 'abroad', it's affordable, and for the most part it's as undeveloped as the Israeli desert.

So we are back to work and the media is filled with the American elections. In the past, Israelis were interested in the American political news almost as much as Israeli politics. But for some reason this is not the case. First of all, the Palestinian fighting is at an all time low. This makes the issue with the American politicians almost disappear. Regardless how you look at it, the security issues are what was driving Israeli-American politics for over 60 years. The media has a great deal of influence in Israel and therefore dictate what people talk about. It also dictates what the Israeli political system does about the Palestinian situation. So the newspapers and TV are showing McCain and Obama on late night entertainment shows. But what they say about the financial crisis on Wall Street is not that interesting to Israelis. There is a simple explanation, most Israelis do not believe that a new president can do much about the economic situation either in the US or globally. Why? Israeli's don't believe in any government's ability to influence the economy. Also, Israel has been dependent on American businesses for so long it is hard to imagine hard times on Wall Street and how it will influence our jobs.

A roman amphitheater in Turkey, a tourist picture

The first priority of the day is the economy. The US is still going to play a big part in the Israeli economy. But it seems like the global giants may be replaced by smaller companies. The cooperation between small American companies and the Israeli worker has been the main form of cooperation before the 1990's. Even Intel which built it's first factory here 30 years ago was not the electronics giant that it is today. But the same goes to other electronic companies: Kulicke & Soffa, Vishay, KLA - Tencor, Flextronics, and the list goes on. The global business giants like AIG, Citicorp, and Merill Lynch came to Tel Aviv and wowed some people. These are big players with lots of resources and a great deal of ambition. But the smaller American companies which come to Tel Aviv for the raw people talent are the ones which succeed and thrive. Maybe now it's time to get back to what Tel Avivians are good at: creatively building products and services for the world to be wowed - RIGHT BACK.

Well, this is the story of Obama and McCain in Tel Aviv. Not much of a story. I think that this is a sign of Tel Aviv maturing. Like every impressionable young person we went to the big city, saw the bright lights, got intoxicated by the big talk, than realized that 'going back home' and doing what we know how to do best is what works. With the economy and the temperament of Tel Aviv the departures of a the giant global's' logos on big buildings will be a small change. People are going to continue their creative hard work to the next employer that appreciates them. If the employer lasts a little longer and sticks around, they will become a part of the Israeli / Tel Avivian landscape. If not, they will just be a faded memory, and in Tel Aviv, that 'ain't bad' either.