The story of Yocheved Lifshitz bursts the bubble of Israel’s false self-image
And there you have it, a perfect Israeli farce. This false self-image, held together by myths spread by Israeli mass media, with television at the helm, has turned on its head and has come undone from within.
By Rogel Alpher • Translated by Keren Rubinstein
Here’s a concept for the poignant social satire genre. Imagine two elderly women being taken hostage into Gaza. We’ll call them Yocheved Lifshitz (85 years old, portrayed by Tiki Dayan), and Nurit Cooper (80 years old, portrayed by Sandra Sade). But oh dear, their kidnappers soon discover the two women are suffering greatly. Cooper is in agony having broken her shoulder, while Lifshitz’ vomiting and diarrhoea hasn’t abated.
The attending Gazan doctor (Eli Yatzpan) makes the call: dysentery. The kidnappers, unable to bear the nausea and diarrhoea, order him to cure her. Lifshitz takes pills — to no avail. When the doctor mentions the illness is contagious, the kidnappers panic and decide that these two aren’t worth it. If they die, they’ll get nothing for them, and they may contract dysentery and die. “I didn’t sign up for this, man”, says one of them in English. (Incidentally, a US version directed by Spielberg, scripted by Aaron Sorkin, with Bette Midler and Dolly Parton as the hostages held by the Mexican underground that had crossed the Rio Grande under Alon Abutbul’s command is also being filmed).
The kidnapers call Israel and say: take them. Israel says: no way; we won’t pay a cent for them. The kidnappers update the hostages, who are shocked and humiliated. The kidnappers take pity on them, call Israel, and say: we’ll leave them at the border. You want them, take them. You don’t want them, don’t take them.
In the end they do. Lifshitz tells herself: my country didn’t want my release. It didn’t want me. She holds a press conference where she notes her captors’ humane treatment. The state accuses her of sabotaging the Hasbara that’s aimed at maintaining Israel’s moral image abroad. The same Israel that burst the bubble of self-deceit about how vital internal solidarity is to its identity. As a bonus, all this is based on a true story. Dear viewers. All rights are reserved to Yochevd Lifshitz. About two weeks ago she aired it on Ynet, but it didn’t receive its due attention. Prominent reporter Shlomi Eldar recounted her story as part of the discussion of what happened to her husband, Oded, rightly calling it “amazing”. It’s much more than that. It’s unusually subversive. It’s explosive. It’s a Molotov cocktail thrown straight into the dump of false Israeli self-satisfaction.
And there you have it, a perfect Israeli farce. This false self-image, held together by myths spread by Israeli mass media, with television at the helm, has turned on its head and has come undone from within. All the lies ooze like puss. Everyone’s acting opposite to what was expected of them. The “new Nazis” are trying to save an old Jewish woman, whose state, founded to save helpless old Jewish women like her, doesn’t want her. A light unto the nations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
