{"id":41239,"date":"2023-04-28T01:29:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T08:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=41239"},"modified":"2023-04-26T13:46:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T20:46:26","slug":"risk-game-vs-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2023\/04\/28\/risk-game-vs-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Risk \u2026 game vs. reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playing the game of Risk. (photo \u00a9 Jorge Royan)<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always thought of the Nordic region as peaceful. Admittedly, my knowledge of the area is largely limited to Risk<\/em>, the board game, where Greenland, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries are considered a haven, free of imminent attack from the throw of a dice.<\/p>\n

Well, Finland just purchased Israel\u2019s David\u2019s Sling defensive system. For $345 million US. It was one of Finland\u2019s first moves after recently being accepted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. And it was the first sale abroad for David\u2019s Sling, an integrated part of Israel\u2019s multi-tier missile defence system. Israel now carries the title of major supplier to NATO.<\/p>\n

I guess the world\u2019s a bit more complicated than Risk<\/em>.<\/p>\n

***\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

So long, Noa Tishby, the Israeli performer appointed by our previous prime minister, Yari Lapid, to advocate for Israel through her strong social media presence. With the formal and former title of special envoy for combating antisemitism and delegitimization of Israel \u2013 fit that onto a business card! \u2013 she was known for sparring with BDS advocate Bella Hadid and others. Tishby was also a vocal supporter of Israel\u2019s anti-judicial reform movement. Giving voice to the many thousands protesting the current government and its extreme shift rightward and into sometimes theocratic territory, Tishby says this was the reason for her dismissal. Well, ya. As the hawkish Jerusalem Post<\/em> editorialist Ruthi Blum noted, \u201cTisbhy is free to share [her opinion]. But she shouldn\u2019t have expected the government she\u2019s been bashing to keep her as a representative.\u201d Well, no. But keep on truckin\u2019 Noa Tishby.<\/p>\n

BTW, Tishby will be a guest at the JNF Negev event in Vancouver on June 29.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Tel Aviv Museum of Art is again among the world\u2019s 100 most visited museums. This according to international art magazine The Art Newspaper<\/em>. TAMA was ranked 49th\u00a0in 2022, a jump from its 56th\u00a0place the year prior. I am fortunate to be one of those visitors, on multiple occasions, over the past many years, often dragging my two children there when they were younger \u2013 how fun was that!<\/p>\n

Paris\u2019s Louvre and the Vatican Museum took first and second place, respectively. Canada was represented with a 60th\u00a0place win by Toronto\u2019s Royal Ontario Museum.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

Congratulations Milk & Honey, Israel\u2019s preeminent whisky distiller, awarded the 2023 world\u2019s best single malt whisky by the World Drink\u2019s Awards for its Elements, Sherry Cask drink. Described as \u201c[f]ruity aromas of citrus zest and white peach with a dash of wood varnish. Sweet to the taste \u2026 with flavours of golden syrup, vanilla, tropical fruit and iced tea.\u2026\u201d Sounds like a palate pleaser to me. But,\u00a0if I had to choose, my favourite would be Seagram\u2019s Five Star rye whisky. Not so much for its taste but for fond memories of fighting with my siblings for the silver sheriff\u2019s star glued to the bottles.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jerusalem was selected by Time<\/em> magazine as one of the world\u2019s 2023 top 50 destinations, holding the 48th\u00a0spot. It\u2019s one of my favourite places to visit on a bustling Friday, starting with a walk through the overcrowded neighbourhood of Mea She\u2019arim and enjoying a freshly baked challah. Then, bargaining my way through the Old City\u2019s Arab Market, its tastes, smells and sights, and eventually making my way to the Western Wall, with the golden Dome of the Rock overhead. Ending with lunch at Machane Yehuda, the popular central Jerusalem food market, which has the freshest of meats and vegetables, and many colourful stalls.<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone, Canada held two spots. Churchill was third \u2013 can\u2019t beat those Northern Light spectaculars. Vancouver was 38th, for its eclectic cuisine and the beautiful Stanley Park.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

For sure, difficult days in Israel. Sociopolitical cultures are clashing internally. External enemies are looking on with glee, and testing us. But we\u2019re not sinking into despair. Israel has experienced difficult times before and emerged stronger and wiser. So it will be this time.<\/p>\n

Arguably, we are being governed by the worst government in our short history \u2013 for many reasons, including recent security challenges. I mean, come on, with someone as inexperienced and reactionary as Itamar Ben-Gvir as national internal security minister. Or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spouting off on things about which he should know better and doesn\u2019t. But let\u2019s not blame the victims for the terror and rockets. Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, an inept Palestinian leadership with a hateful street \u2013 they are to blame, not the government.<\/p>\n

Usually, it\u2019s the right-wing governments that muster support for the very difficult realpolitik choices, from Menachem Begin\u2019s 1982 Sinai exit to Ariel Sharon\u2019s 2005 Gaza disengagement. Even Binyamin Netanyahu\u2019s 2021 peace deals with several Arab countries under the Abraham Accords. Unfortunately, Netanyahu\u2019s current government may be too inexperienced and messianic to enable reasonable, democratic, liberal change \u2013 read judicial reform \u2013 at such a scale. But who knows.<\/p>\n

We cannot despair. At a very esoteric level, Israelis have hope. In fact, hope is the theme of our national anthem, Hatikvah<\/em>, The Hope.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the World Happiness Report, published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Israel remains one of the happiest countries in the world. (See jewishindependent.ca\/measuring-happiness.) Rising to fourth place in 2023, just behind Finland, Denmark and Iceland, Israel\u2019s showing likely reflected its reputation as a \u201cvilla in the jungle,\u201d as dubbed by former prime minister Ehud Barak \u2013 despite being in the Middle East, one of the most contentious spots \u2026 on the Risk<\/em> board.<\/p>\n

Bruce Brown<\/strong> is a Canadian and an Israeli. He made aliyah \u2026 a long time ago. He works in Israel\u2019s high-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. Brown is the winner of the 2019 AJPA Rockower Award for excellence in writing, and wrote the 1998 satire <\/em>An Israeli is\u2026. Brown reflects on life in Israel \u2013 political, social, economic and personal.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playing the game of Risk. (photo \u00a9 Jorge Royan) I\u2019ve always thought of the Nordic region as peaceful. Admittedly, my knowledge of the area is largely limited to Risk, the board game, where Greenland, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries are considered a haven, free of imminent attack from the throw of a dice. Well, Finland […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[2466,22290,6312,4007,4952,4330,216,60,22289,20811,3597,21646,1742,6739],"class_list":["post-41239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-art","tag-churchill","tag-governance","tag-happiness","tag-hope","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem","tag-jnf","tag-milk-honey","tag-noa-tishby","tag-politics","tag-surveys","tag-vancouver","tag-whisky"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}