Israel Matzav

The Tea Party kicks off

In Tel Aviv on Sunday night, Israel's tea party kicked off.

Though there were large piles of tea bags outside the door to the conference hall, the rally hardly resembled its counterparts in the States. No country music was heard, there were no Moshes in US Revolutionary War-era garb, and no Ya’acovs in powdered wigs with faux muskets hollering, “No taxation without representation.”

The event also lacked the Barack Obama as the Joker/Karl Marx/witchdoctor posters commonly seen at such events in the United States. In fact, while there were many signs reading “Say no to Obama!” in Hebrew, English and Russian (no Arabic), nary a one had “Hussein” on it, and there were no depictions of the former Illinois senator wearing Islamic garb.

The event had an altogether quiet, middle-class Likudnik vibe to it, complete with good but not extravagant catering and a well-behaved crowd that kept quiet during the speeches.

The attendees included very few English speakers or protesters eligible to vote in Tuesday’s election, and few present seemed concerned with Obamacare, taxation, gun rights and other breadand- butter issues that form so much of the American Tea Party’s call to arms.

The Israeli version was the brainchild of former Likud MK Michael Kleiner, and refers to itself as “The Tea Party of the Likud.”

Organizers said the event was not officially endorsed by the Likud party, but it was attended by a number of supporters from the party, including MKs Danny Danon, Tzipi Hotovely and Ayoub Kara, and one-time contender for the Likud crown Moshe Feiglin, all of whom gave speeches at the event.

Read the whole thing.

Hopefully, Israel's Prime Minister will treat these people as his friends and allies and not as a rival to be vanquished. The precedents in that department are not promising.

By the way, my recollection is that in the US the Tea Party started as grass roots and NO politicians were allowed to be involved until the Tea Party started making politicians from within.

Am I remembering correctly?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:55 AM