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Polished Slick Political Speech in Tel Aviv

Tel Avivians recently upgraded their image of slick politically correct speakers. Not by international standards, but certainly by Israeli standards. Israelis for a long time had an image of rough and undiplomatic. Today in fact, Tel Aviv behaves much more like a modern European city than an Israeli Kibbutz from the 1950's. The change from brash, brutally honest, "I don't care what you think of me" to civility is something foreigners notice right away. Specially visitors who have not been here in a decade or two and remember the days when Israelis were on top of the world. In general, Israelis are not particularly interested in politics. In everyday life, you do not hear much political talk, there are just too many other issues to worry about. If you are interested in politics try a few people and see who bites. Tel Avivians are not worried about what they say, so they will tell you what they think. If you need to decode what they say here are a few things I heard recently. Here is a short decode table:

  • I do not understand politics: I am tired of the empty promises before elections and the excuses after.
  • Politics is in my blood: My great uncle was a low level beurocrat in the histadrut (national labor union, at one time representing most workers in Israel.)
  • I follow politics religiously: 1) I watch the news every evening. 2) I hear all kind of things but believe very little until I see real action.
  • Politics is my religion: I vote in most elections and I do not practice any religion regularly.
  • I don't want to hear about politics: 1) I really don't care what politicians say and do. 2) Bring it on, I love talking (arguing) politics.
  • I am not that interested in politics: Politics are a waste of time but if you got an opinion I am sure we can argue about something.

I like to speak with bus riders and fast food clientele on the latest political developments. With the Obama administration taking the helm in Washington Isarelis were not too happy about Obama's renewed positive attitude towards the Arabs and Palestinians. Let's be honest, George W. Bush was a good friend of Israel and pretty much backed our government no matter what was asked. But on the other side is Obama shift of focus from Israel and the middle-east to other areas (health care now, economics and finance before.) This shift is taking the spotlight away from the Arabs and Palestinians for the first time in decades. Overall Israel is not getting as much attention but the negative press is also less detrimental to Israel's global image. On the streets of Tel Aviv the reaction to these changes runs all the way from "I don't really care, what's the big deal" to "this is what it should be, it's about time" to "as long as the politicians are not moving forward the Palestinians are going to stay enemies, we need to be realistic not day dreamers". I also hear a few "it's about time Israeli leaders started to think for themselves without big brother America calling all the shots." But mostly it's small comments about the stream of news reporting that we are used to here.

What makes political talks useful is as a universal introduction and good ice breaker to get a sense of the people in a foreign city. Usually if the political talk does not take off you can talk about other things. If you find someone to talk politics it will give you a better sense of what people think here. In most cases people's opinion is not what you hear about in the mass media. It is also interesting to hear how people think. For the most part you get a good read on what makes Tel Aviv good or bad, fun or frustrating, profitable or expensive, social or isolating... which is what makes most visitors and new residents excited in the first few months. So read up on your politics before you come to visit. Don't expect every Tel Avivian to be a political experts, but an opinion you will hear one way or another.

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