ira

It has been a month now since I have been in Israel and I have been able to think about my visit. One thing struck me throughout my travels in Israel was the sense that Israel isn't accomplishing as much as it should be.

In general most Israelis didn't see Israel as the best place to live in the world.Even with all the accomplishments that have occurred over the last 60 years there was a sense that Israel isn't moving forward fast enough.

I was in Israel during the teachers strike and was amazed at how the government dealt with the problems of the teachers. I wasn't aware before how little teachers earned and how second rate a profession teaching has become. The fact that the government didn't see fit to find a good solution to this problem only shows how bankrupt the Israeli political system is.

Here in the U.S. schools are run on a local level. The education budget is determined by local taxes. These taxes are generally determined by the appraised value of property. Where there are good schools the values of the home are higher and there is more money for education.

In Israel there are many competing interests for tax money and for some reason the educational system hasn't been able to compete well for those funds. The fact that the public didn't see the strike as some thing that was of extreme importance to the country and force the government to negotiate in good faith only shows how broken the political system is.

Another fact that I saw in Tel-Aviv that I found very disturbing was the amount of trash and garbage all over the streets. I came to the conclusion that the core problem was in the way trash is collected. Most of the buildings didn't have big enough trash cans and there always seemed to be an over flow. When the trash was collected about 2% always got left behind. The trash collectors don't pick up the over flow and it just spreads over the city. In other large cities there are fines for buildings that leave trash about. In Tel-Aviv it is just tolerated and accepted.

On a positive note Tel-Aviv looks very modern with lots of development everywhere. It seems as if more and more high rise buildings are going up in almost every corner of the city. The economic activity seems fast pace and the city has developed some very nice public spaces. Jaffo and Neve Tzedek seemed be going through a beautiful renaissance.

The kibbutzim seemed to have revitalized there economies and there was lots of building going on, on many kibbutzim.

The airport is as modern as any in the western world and train and light rail are now starting to take hold in Israel. Now that there is an electric car project in it's early stages, perhaps Israel will show the world how it's done.

Israel is a country of many contradictions of good and bad. Over all Israel has many natural attributes and many talented individuals. There are many competing forces at work and some decisions are moving the country forward while others are not.

What Israels greatest attribute is is that it is a Jewish nation the only one in the world. The spirit and enthusiasm of a people are felt in Israel. Those that live there don't understand how different the tempo and culture of the country is. For them it is the norm. The fact that the country has been able to modernize as fast as it has is a tribute to the special culture of the Jewish people in Israel.

Israel is now a modern nation that can become an example of how to further develop in the 21 st century. In many fields it is already the leader and will teach the rest of the world how to move forward.

Livni

I dont see a garbage in the streets problem, maybe south tel aviv with shop owners not careful about keeping them clean. I think we have to just live in a way that makes less garbage, recycle our stuff. we have a culture of throwing everything old in favour of new gadgets and furniture, its really in the dna here of adopting anything new as better than anything old (example - the plasma tv mania, the ikea mania) so yes it creates huge amounts of garbage.

I agree with you on not accomplishing full potential. I blame it only on beaurocracy of how govt. and local govt. take ages to aprove every little project and try to finance everything as cheap as possible seeing only the short term, and then we end up in legal disputes and delays (light rail projects for example). I think the strikes could have ended in hours, not months. stadiums and ports must be built in years not decades. we need 3 more big new hospitals. we need more rail lines. bigger ports.

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ira

Livni Wrote

"I don't see a garbage in the streets problem, maybe south tel Aviv with shop owners not careful about keeping them clean. I think we have to just live in a way that makes less garbage, recycle our stuff. we have a culture of throwing everything old in favor of new gadgets and furniture, its really in the dna here of adopting anything new as better than anything old (example - the plasma tv mania, the ikea mania) so yes it creates huge amounts of garbage"

It must be an Israeli way of not seeing the forest from the trees. Everywhere you look in Tel-Aviv there is trash and it just sits there in every conner. I'm talking about the nice parts of town Rothchild and north Tel-Aviv. There must be an expectation that a bit of trash in the streets is normal and not important. I was in New York and there is some trash in the streets but it was 10% of what I saw in Tel-Aviv. The difference I think is that the buildings and commercial enterprises will be fined if they don't keep the areas next to their buildings clean. Just look at how full many of the trash bins are. Often there isn't enough room and there is stuff spilling out. The collectors don't take what isn't in the bin and what falls out isn't picked up.

Frangipani

I think the trash thing is a relative matter. You are right that there is still trash on the streets, but compared to, say, 10 years ago, I think that the change has been incredible. So I barely notice the small amounts of trash any more, because there used to be so much more. The municipality has done a lot to clean up the city. More can (and hopefully will) be done, but I think we're on the right track. There is still a general lack of awareness of this, and of other issues such as recycling. But I'm still continually amazed at how much awareness there is, nonetheless.

And I think you're right, fining building owners is a good idea.

I'm not sure if you noticed, by the way, but slowly, slowly, the municipality is going around forcing every building to have a little alcove for bins, to get them off the streets. That is a very promising start.

Livni

believe me Ive been in first rate cities in the world where they would consider the trash in the streets of tel aviv to be a miracle of cleanliness. Youre right that it could be much better but I still think it wasnt as though people are littering on purpose, the wind maybe blows rubbish around. maybe it was sunday, because on friday and shabbat they dont collect trash and yes after weekends they bins everywhere are packed up. people have to be educated to use them less on weekends, instead of more.

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