Where's that 'fun country?'

The prime minister didn't exactly explain what he meant by "a country that's fun to live in," and didn't explain the criteria necessary for turning the north into a paradise.

I suspect that he, his cronies and other senior politicians, think in terms that are quite different than those the majority is accustomed to.

Take an interest in everyday life

Ehud Olmert hasn't the slightest idea about everyday life in Israel, but he could have focused on a few challenges that are relatively easy to deal with.

For example, he could have devoted some of his attention to education, whose level according to objective evaluations is deteriorating rapidly. But Olmert, just like his predecessors, is behaving as though education is a matter for the Education Ministry only.

The prime minister could also have taken an interest in what’s happening on our coastline, which is continually being polluted every year, ruined because of sand theft and wrecked by unrestrained all-terrain vehicles.

And there's another example: He could have instructed the police to curb the unruly behavior of motorcyclists, who illegally ride and park on the city sidewalks, endangering pedestrians and disrupting traffic.

These matters would not have turned Israel into a paradise but could have drastically improved our quality of life. There's no lack of examples. But it appears the prime minister doesn't really know what type of problems bother the majority of his subjects.

A drive in the family car

Yitzhak Rabin was the last prime minister to occasionally take a drive in his family car. He also ordered the building of a series of modern interchanges that spared the public two to three hour traffic jams on their way to and from work. But he was an exception. 

Today's leaders are not exposed to the hellish public transportation prevalent in Israel, and when they rarely are, they simply instruct their drivers to drive on the shoulders at a speed of 170 kilometers an hour (roughly 110 miles per hour,) as did Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz recently. 

Don't make them laugh

They have no idea what it's like to wait in line at the national health clinics. How about riding a bus or a train? Don't make them laugh.

The detachment of Israel's senior politicians from their civilians' everyday life is probably the most severe among all democratic states. There are many reasons for this, including the strict security measures. Even after the 9/11 attacks, US legislators (with double the number of ministers) are not guarded to the extent Israeli ministers are.

Another reason, perhaps more profound, stems from Israel's political culture - a culture of corruption, mutual favors, outrageous pensions in the public sector, and immoral hedonism.

For Olmert perhaps, a country that's fun to live in means its citizens live in homes that are valued at over USD 2 million, smoke expensive cigars and sign their names with pens that cost thousands of dollars.

A country in which a "civil servant" takes a full pension 15 or 20 years before the simple man on the street and immediately receives a lofty post as chairman of a board of directors so that he can make up his salary. Their lives are indeed full of fun, perhaps even a paradise of sorts.

Get off your Olympus Mr. Prime Minister. You needn't go out on the streets in disguise at night, as did Harun al-Rashid, the fifth Abbasid caliph who is so well remembered in Arab history. Open your eyes and ears and try thinking of the simple man's concerns, the man you can't see because of the shaded windows in your armored car. Don't promise us "fun" and definitely not paradise.

Just once a week, no more, try to devote some thought to what is bothering us, and do something about it.