Israeli Election Top 10 Observations

With only hours to go until Israeli elections, many are still undecided,

but at least we now we are down to only 32 parties to select from.

With so many parties and candidates it is impossible to keep track,

so we decided to share just a few pre-election observations.

election sign Jerusalem photo

1. A “Bibi is a strong leader for Israel” poster is up in the spot

where Tzipi Livni was hanging just a couple of weeks ago.

Jerusalem photo campaign election

2. Bibi is good for the rich,

according to Shelly Yacimovich of Labor banners.

photo Zipi Hotovely

3. Zippi Hotovely is one of our favorite candidates,

she was often available to speak and so easy to photograph.

Jeremy Gimpel photo

4. In September, Jeremy Gimpel was campaigning for Anglo votes,

an old video comment got him roaring into the headlines this week.

photo Eli Yishai

5. Shas MK Eli Yishai took time out to meet with a group of AMIT

 supporters from US in his office even though they can not vote.

photo Chief rabbi Jerusalem photo

6. Chief rabbis are allowed to give brachot, blessings in person,

but a brachot ‘phone app’  before elections was ruled against the law.

election poster Jerusalem photo

7. A large banner for Naftali Bennent could be found in German Colony

Jerusalem photo, election poster

and a small green and blue sticker on this graffiti nose on Jaffa Street.

He is gaining popularity, but is he everyone’s brother as his ads read?

election sign Jerusalem picture

8. This is an old Moshe Feiglin sticker.

Interesting that he has kept a low profile this week.

election sign photo

9. So tomorrow is the time to decide which letters to put in the ballot box.

election sign Israel photo

Not going to bore you with all 32 letter combinations here,

I will leave that for someone else.

Predict what you want, but things can change quickly,

Avigdor Lieberman photo

just ask Avigdor Lieberman,

one day he was near the top and the next day out of the running.

Israeli election photo

In May, Dov Lipman was posing in the Knesset

with MK Amselem and heading Amselem Anglos group.

Today, Dov Lipman is running with Yair Lapid with Yesh Atid party.

And finally, 10. my favorite sign from this week,

sign Jerusalem Theater

a very clever ad for the Jerusalem Theater.

After the election noise quiets, it is time to subscribe for some culture.

At a recent class on Nevi’im, the Biblical prophets, our teacher mentioned,

a characteristic of a prophet is that victory is important over personal glory.

This election session personal egos seem to be a reason to run for office.

Let’s hope that after election day the winners and losers will indeed work

for the good of the people and the land of Israel.

Meanwhile, everyone also has to decide what to do tomorrow,

as Israeli election day is a day off from work.

Nachlaot Finding Past and Future

Sir Moses Montefiore, a great benefactor to Israel in the 19th century,

is perhaps best known for the Montefiore Windmill.

However, in 1882 he was also involved in building

the Nachlaot section of Jerusalem.

This cluster of small Jewish neighborhoods was one of the first

Jerusalem homesteads outside the walls of the over-crowded Old City.

Stone walls surrounded Nachlaot to protect its residents.

Sir Moses Montefiore

Today one of the openings still displays a testimonial to Montefiore 

and the Mazkeret Moshe neighborhood is named for him.

 Nachlaot is across from the Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk.

Nahlaot street, Jerusalem Street, J Street

After getting lost too many times on the narrow twisting streets,

I made it a habit to walk around Nachlaot

and not through it on my way to the shuk.

So when the Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts offered a hunt to Nachlaot, 

I made sure to be one of the first bloggers to sign up for the special event.

mayaan fogel art, street art, Nahaot

In Nachlaot, you can see interesting street art

street art, J Street, Nahlaot

painted on the walls,

street art, J Street, scavenger hunt

but you never know what you will  find hanging out on its streets.

Old stone street, J Street, Jerusalem old street

Old stone streets

Nahlaot house, J Street, new Jerusalem building

and beautiful new homes,

street art, J Street, Nachlaot art

combine to make walking the Nachlaot streets a real adventure.

Nahlaot, J Street, Jerusalem street photos

From ancient stones on the left to modern cable receivers on the right,

it can all be found in Nachlaot.

We followed our map, and not only did we not get lost,

but our team won!

And thanks to the Village Green Restaurant on Rachel Imenu Street,

we enjoyed fresh bread with a cup of soup at the end of the hunt.

There are many tours to Nachlaot, 

but this scavenger hunt is fun and educational for all ages.

 We found it as good an experience as the hunt last year

in the Old City.

To find more photos of Nachlaot and our winning team see:

The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook Page.