Say congratulations to Knesset Member Gilad Kariv and the Democrats party. He’s celebrating 100,000 followers on his Arabic Facebook page these days, while his Hebrew account has less than 70,000. Quite an impressive achievement, right?
1+But the really interesting story starts when you listen to what Kariv actually says there. Because when Gilad Kariv, like Mansour Abbas, speaks in Hebrew in the studios, we hear one thing, and when he speaks to his cousins in Tel Aviv, we hear something completely different. In Hebrew, we hear about a national camp, Zionism, security, and responsibility. But when he switches to Arabic, suddenly the tune changes. Suddenly, there’s fateful courting of the Arab public and the Arab parties—suddenly, they’re full and natural partners in leading the state. In Hebrew, they sedate and lull us to sleep, selling the center-left stories about broad Zionist coalitions without dependence on anyone. But in Arabic? Dependent partners, important leaders, the truth? We’re confused, Gilad. Which message is the real message? Because you’re apparently lying to one of us—to whom exactly? To the Jews in the studios or to the Arabs on Facebook?
1+You understand? The public may hear Hebrew, but today, in the era of ChatGPT, you know, we can already check what you’re saying in Arabic too. My advice, Gilad? Don’t be ashamed to be yourself. Even though you’re an endangered and very unpopular species, come out of the closet and stand in the light. That way, on election day, we’ll know who we absolutely must not vote for.