Knesset Boycotts
One of the most raucous incidents last week in the Knesset
was when Ahmad Tibi referred to Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz
as a "murderer" and a "fascist." Tibi's remarks caused an
uproar and brought a variety of responses from Knesset
members. Some called for his removal from the Knesset,
others called for him to stand trial, while still others
called for his party to be made illegal, as was done to Kach
in its day.
Modi Zandberg (Shinui) had a particularly interesting
suggestion. He proposed a show of protest against Ahmad
Tibi: every time he took the speakers' platform during
Knesset plenums, the rest of the Knesset members would stand
and leave the hall, just as left-wing MKs did to Meir Kahane
20 years ago.
Zandberg's reasoning was very simple. An MK like Tibi who
provokes, promotes and supports terror should be ostracized
whenever he tries to speak.
Zandberg's proposal brings to mind another member of the
present Knesset, Tomi Lapid, for whom similar suggestions
have been made. Lapid, chairman of Shinui, is well
remembered for the big campaign he ran against the chareidi
sector leading up to the Knesset elections and throughout
his first year in office. Recently he has toned down his
provocations for some reason and has been heard from much
less. But as soon as the smell of elections is in the air
again, Tomi Lapid can be counted on to wake from his slumber
and renew his campaign against the chareidi public with all
of its former thrust.
As soon as the 15th Knesset was convened, chareidi MKs from
United Torah Jewry and Shas proposed to boycott Tomi Lapid's
addresses by stepping out of the hall whenever he took the
speakers' platform. The proposal was implemented and during
the first few weeks of the 15th Knesset the chareidi MKs
would walk out of the plenum hall every time Lapid addressed
the Knesset.
It is interesting to note that the proposal to vacate the
hall when Tibi speaks came from Lapid's own party. Modi
Zandberg understands that there are limits to provocation by
Arab MKs. Unfortunately he and his party fail to understand
and are unwilling to accept the fact that there also should
be a limit to Shinui's agitation against the chareidi
public, which also has a right to live according to its own
principles, without unleashing wild, unchecked attacks
against it.
Sophisticated Figures
Yitzhak Sabon (Shas) submitted a question to the Minister of
Education, Culture and Sport, Matan Vilnai, requesting
figures on the amount of state funding allocated to theater.
Sabon asked for a detailed account of government-sponsored
financial assistance, eligibility requirements, which
theaters receive public funds and other related figures.
The Minister's reply is a fascinating study in sophisticated
sidestepping. Said Vilnai: "In 2000 and 2001 we supported 36
theaters with a total budget of just over 86 million
shekels, with 3,750,000 people benefiting from these
funds."
At first glance this seems to be an astounding figure: more
than 60% of Israeli citizens attend the theater. Subtract
children and infants and the old and the sick, and just
about everyone who walks on two feet goes to the theater in
his or her free time.
Vilnai himself was impressed with these figures. "There is
nothing else like this in Israel," he said smugly.
In fact, this is nothing more than a case of highly
sophisticated statistics juggling. Based on these figures
the state budgets NIS 23 per person for the theater--a
reasonable enough sum. Indeed, Vilnai intended for the
listener to arrive at this figure. But since only a few
thousand people around the country attend the theater in
Israel, or perhaps thirty to forty thousand at the most, the
amount of per person funding increases significantly.
Obviously such statistics reporting is intentionally
misleading.
Every theater-lover goes to the theater once, twice or even
three times a week, generating a figure of 3,750,000 people
benefiting from theater funding. Assuming that no more than
40,000 people attend the theater, per person state funding
comes to NIS 2,150. If only 30,000 people attend the
theater, per person funding goes up to NIS 2,900, which is a
far cry from the NIS 23 in the above calculation.
Generally theatergoers come from the upper crust. Why should
the state provide thousands of shekels per person annually?
For the sake of argument, let's assume this can be
justified.
Now let's do another calculation. Using Vilnai's
methodology, more than 30 million people attend yeshivas and
kollelim. If he is so impressed with less than four
million participants and says there is nothing like it in
Israel, his should be even more impressed with this
statistic.
And as far as money matters are concerned, if we divide the
entire Ministry of Religious Affairs budget among 30 million
people, we get a figure of some NIS 10-20 per year. So why
all the constant noise about a couple of measly shekels per
person per year?
Obviously this is not the right way to calculate a budget,
neither for yeshivas nor for theatergoers. It would have
been better had Vilnai, or whoever wrote the response, to be
more honest and to admit that the number of theatergoers in
Israel is no more than a few thousand or a few tens of
thousands annually, and that they receive NIS 86 million in
funding, i.e. NIS 2,000-3,000 per person, rather than
providing a sophisticated response that covers up the
truth.
