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7. Prophecy ofWrath: Israeli Society as Reflected in Satires for Children Yaakova Sacerdoti This essay explains how popular satirists have developed a unique political and social whip, using simple language, humor, and fantasy, combined with complex literary structures , to address adult audiences through their children. The author shows how, in the highly charged and polarized atmosphere ofIsraeli society, satirists use a down-to-earth approach to attack the rising power ofreligious institutions at the expense ofthe secular, corrupt leaders and foolish citizens , and the absurdity ofthe Arab-Israeli conflict. Sidon, Efraim, Baldy Heights, Tel-Aviv: Am-Oved, 1995. (Hebrew) - - , A Strange and Amazing Story about a Small Island Named Logic, Jerusalem: Keter, 1993. (Hebrew) - - , Uzo and Muzo from the Village Kakaruzo, Jerusalem: Keter, 1993. (Hebrew) Shalev, Meir, How the Neanderthal Man Incidentally Invented the Rumanian Kabob, Tel-Aviv: Am-Oved, 1993. (Hebrew) - - , Nechama the Louse, Tel-Aviv: Am-Oved, 1995. (Hebrew) 119 120 Yaakova Sacerdoti I Israel is a unique ethnic, religious, and cultural patchwork. For Jews, it is the land ofAbraham, Isaac, and ,Jacob. From all over the world, Jews gather to find in this petite Promised Land a shelter from persecutions, and a solution to their religious and national identity. Ashkenazi, Sephardi, ultra-Orthodox, and secular Jews live side by side trying to find their place inside this bubbling melting pot. For Christians and Muslims, it is also a Holy Land, the scene of their religious development. The Arab-Israeli conflict, rooted in ancient times, is an infected birthmark, scarring this beautiful country of desert and green mountains with blood and hostility. Sadly, many Israelis have become used to the conflict with the Arab world. The 1990s found Israeli society in a phase of quasi eruption, with some people talking of civil war. Many agree that it all began during the mid-1982 Lebanon War that divided the country into two hostile camps-right and left. "Shalom ha-Galil" (Peace for the Galilee), a war that was supposed to bring peace and quiet to the northern part ofIsrael, became an Israeli Vietnam. Soldiers went to the front not as messengers of hope and heroism but rather to carry the burden of a split society. The Intifada (Palestinian uprising) which erupted in December 1987 widened the gap. Citizens and soldiers were pounded by daily confrontations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which became an issue ofdeep domestic disagreement. Some waved the flag of Jewish supremacy over the land, while others flooded the streets to demonstrate against the government's policy in the name ofmorality. There seemed to be an erosion of unity of purpose as a growing number of Israelis started to doubt whether they were indeed struggling for survival, or whether David had become Goliath. The lava continued to bubble under the surface when the 1993 Oslo agreement was signed. Opponents decried the sale ofIsrael's birthright for a "mess of lentils," waving the flag of nationalism and religious rights to the land. Urban plazas were packed with demonstrators carrying signs depicting the prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, as Hitler or as an SS officer, some calling for his death. Rabin's supporters, on the other hand, were delighted by the course of events set in motion in Oslo, and regarded these rallies as a passing phenomenon. No one could believe that words ofhate would soon become bullets ofdeath. The November 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a religiously motivated young Jew shook the country as never before, and with bitter irony people were saying: "Now we are a nation like all the nations." Israeli society entered a labyrinth of groups and sub- Prophecy ofWrath 121 groups: Israelis against Palestinians, and among Israelis, right versus left, religious versus secular, Ashkenazim versus Sephardim, and "native" Israelis against Russian and Ethiopian immigrants. II In this state ofchaos, criticism, and hostility, all sides mobilized their forces. Politicians and political activists were echoed by the media. Newspaper articles and TV programs became harsh; nothing was sacred ' no one was secure, and satire flourished. Comedians who had once attacked cultural and linguistic taboos switched to satire that targeted political issues and actors. "Zehu-Zeh" (That's it!), once an entertaining TV program for children, became a satirical show for adults. "Hartzufim,"l a new satiric show, swept the country with its vulgar, straightforward, and cynical skits. The attacks came from every corner, including the area ofchildren's literature. Efraim Sidon, a well-known Israeli satirist and left-wing activist, embraced children's...

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