Investing in "Lifestyle": Showing Up Everywhere

Flowers, trees, public bicycles and cleaner streets are a big part of local government spending today

Israel's focus on domestic lifestyle growth is slowly showing signs of life. In the past few years, Israel's perspective of urban lifestyle became a focus point. While government and private organizations were not as keen on investing in local lifestyle in the past, attitudes toward living standards have changed. The average Israeli's street view is changing for the better. Streets are cleaner, renovated where needed and even policed more frequently. To me it seems as if local government is taking outdoor life more seriously. Following the example of cities around the world, streets, parks and public spaces are cleaner, better maintained and more comfortable. There is a hidden story here. I think it relates to the change of attitude toward the hard criticism of government policies the last few years. This type of writing is best done by political writers, especially in mainstream media outlets (newspapers, TV). Yet here is my take on things:

Israelis are less naive and more proactive about life here. In the past, government and private voices tried to defend Israel's political and security position. Essentially answering the complaints of international voices: "Israel is a modern country, but the Palestinian issue is intolerable". Yet for good or for bad, our efforts to silence or even balance the image of Israel as a high moral occupier of a dangerous militant people has not turned out as expected. Signs of change were here more than five years ago. What comes to mind is the memorable article from Time magazine on the careless attitude of beach going Tel Avivians about the Palestinian situation. Mainstream media outlets reported on how little attention is given to the massive amount of reporting on Israeli-Palestinian fighting. But that was an outsider's view of the situation. Simply put, the complaining from foreign voices (some extreme) are no longer making an impression on the average Israeli. The urban Israeli resident does not care about what security forces are doing in Palestinian territories. Not because of lack of compassion, more because of too much one-sided hype. This story is not told in the international press. The story tellers truly believe in the evil perpetrated by Israelis. Yet in relation to what is happening in the rest of the country, this story is not only minor, it is downright tiny. This I believe is what most Israelis have been feeling and trying to say the last decade.

What we can see on a personal level is the need to bring daily lifestyle, both personal and public, to the level which reflects Israel's economic, cultural and moral values. This brings us back to cleaner and more comfortable living. Most younger Israelis are simply not paying attention to older leaders (both public / political and private). Most younger Israelis want to live a comfortable life and struggle on personal level much like most western developed-country citizens. In private, older Israelis are surprised time and again at homes, cars and leisure spending of younger people (but not necessarily more affluent). The same goes for most older Israeli managers in business (from bankers to retired military officers now in public management positions). More in following posts, in the mean time, enjoy the early spring flowers in Givatayim (a small town bordering Tel Aviv).