Israeli Soccer – A National Catharsis
An article on a subject that is no less than a secular religion in Israel: Israeli soccer.
Soccer in Israel: Between a Disappointing Draw and a National Emotional Revolution
An article on a subject that is no less than a secular religion in Israel: Israeli soccer.
Soccer in Israel: Between a Disappointing Draw and a National Emotional Revolution
At first it made me laugh . . . then it made me angry.
And now? Now I’m a part of it, because anyone who watches the Patriots for more than a week goes through a process. It’s not just a panel – it’s a way of life.
ืขื ืืืืฉ ืฉืืืจื ืืื ืืืืืจืช ืืืฉืืช ืืืืฉืืข ืืื ืคืชืื ืฉื ืชืืื ืืช ืจืืืืืื: ืืื ืื ื’ืื ืืชืื.
ืืื ืืชืื ืืืฉืื ืืจืืืืื ืฉื ืืืืืื – ืืืืชื ืฉื ืืืฉ ืืชืื ืืืืื ืืืืืืืช
Superpowers? We have them. Survivability? Plenty. Bizarre costumes? Every Friday morning in central Tel Aviv.
And who needs Marvel when you have the guy from the neighborhood who insists on fixing the air conditioner with flip-flops?
Somewhere between Metula and Rahat, among the dunes and basalt hills, there is a phenomenon that even Harvard has not yet been able to crack: the clothing habits of the average Israeli. The one who comes to a wedding in a white polo shirt, goes to a job interview in ripped jeans, and in winter (that is, one rainy February) wraps himself in a down jacket as if he were in Iceland.
This is a nation that rejected the necktie as part of a colonial conspiracy, adopted Crocs as a national symbol, and broadcasts to the world: “We don’t dress for you. We dress for the integration.”
How did a nation of poets and pistachios become the collective monster of Israeli news?
Does that mean there is no threat? … No.
Does that mean we should laugh about it a little? … Absolutely.
Sometimes it seems like the coronavirus was a bad dream, or a shared nightmare of humanity that we all went through at the same time, woke up in a panic โ and then went back to scrolling through Instagram as if nothing had happened. Remember when we used to have heated discussions about which side of the mask was facing outward? When the kids learned on Zoom and the parents learned to count to 10 before losing it completely? Today, when you hear someone coughing on the bus, you don’t immediately jump up with alcohol gel in hand โ you just hope they don’t cough on you.
The biggest problem with Israeli politics is that we are all, how can we say, a little used to thinking in terms of tribes. There is the “white tribe,” the “second Israel,” the “settlers,” the “leftists,” the “progressives,” the “ultra-Orthodox,” the “national religious,” the “Russians,” the “Arabs,” the “Druze,” and the “kibbutzniks with the open shirts who like to make fun of everyone.”
Welcome to Israel. A country with seven million political commentators and zero stable governments.