If Orange is the New Black, Can Someone Tell Me Who is In the New Middle?

After a satisfying binge of watching "Orange is the New Black" it was time to take stock of my self-perception of a world that is much bigger than my own little GTA bubble. Leading lady Piper Chapman gets stripped mentally and emotionally (and let’s face it physically) to see that her “middle class white blonde” reality masks not only her own sense of who she could potentially be on the opposite side of the coin, but also the reality of women from very different lives who inevitably wind up in the same place as she did – prison.  On a level playing field everything is set into sharp focus becoming raw and brutally honest. For the viewer it is seat squirmingly fascinating as the confessions and revelations hit nerves, questioning our sense of identity in a Western society clearly cut by socioeconomic lines of class, gender and ethnicity.

My first question was as a white 40 something female in Canada’s largest urban center where do I fit into the Canadian social landscape? Clearly I’m not in prison, but the media platform of the series allows us to explore the deeper question of place and belonging.  As we head into multiple elections over the next 6 -18 months in Canada I feel I’m often lumped into a Canadian wilderness of political promises and aspirations to meet the needs of the middle class. Just who is that exactly?

What does middle class mean? According to StatsCan it meant that in 2010 a pre tax family income was $57,000. Okay…but with inflation adjustments that means that they are relatively the same level as they were in 1980 with an overall increase of $53. Of course if we add in home values that have risen to meteoric heights you can paint a rosier picture of middle class net asset values being $212,000 as of 2013. Oh but wait, let’s subtract the average family debt load in Canada at somewhere above the $27,000 mark that means Canadians are spending 1.64 to every dollar they make. Confused yet?

Numbers can paint any number of images of financial middles and averages but the trend is clear – income inequality is on the rise and the middle has shrunk leaving greater gaps and questions on who is struggling and thriving in the world of haves and have not’s. But the gaps have also brought into question what will I have or will my children have in the future? The picture is this – not much has happened in growth even five years after the supposed end of the recession. Instead there are greater disparities that aren’t being addressed on the key issues of what the middle needs.

If that is the case I asked, then what do middle class women worry about? What do they need?  If I was a marketing exec I would be positioning my product to middle class women – they are the primary purchasers of daily goods and services, the budgeters and generally key to swaying decision making in Canadian households. Who are they? Well, in many cases they are the primary or shared breadwinners to their households. They are burdened with income disparities in the face of finding a work-life balance and affordable childcare. They see employers and federal employee policies that don’t recognize that women HAVE to work today AND raise families. It is no longer a choice for many to stay at home, but a necessity to go into the workforce however employers are still reluctant to find that middle ground and government policies aren’t addressing that. They have aging parents and an aging healthcare system that is covering less and less each year. They see a shrinking job market of opportunities to make ends meet – for them and for their children.

According to recent statistics of demographics across Canada - chances are if you think you’re in the middle or trying to get there you are also addressing the challenges of not being white like Piper Chapman but faced with the realities of the immigrant experience (especially if you are in the GTA and its expanding diverse communities.) If that’s the new Canadian middle perhaps it makes sense that Olivia Chow would throw her hat in the ring here in Toronto? From her immigrant roots to national politics her story is one of rising to the middle and surpassing it.

Life isn’t a level playing field and neither is the economic, educational or employment opportunity disparities in a country like Canada. It’s a multicultural field here that is still struggling with questions of workplace equality for women, new immigrants and younger generations who are educated and coming into a world where the economy can’t kick start itself or them. Whether it is austerity measures masked as balancing budgets or cutbacks in the public service that limit what we historically did best in Canada for Canadians – promote growth of communities and societies through a stable basket of socialized care policies in education, health and culture –it's not really working. If we take stock of the issues and the desire to meet the needs of the middle, how do they fit into the political considerations and landscape of Canada’s upcoming elections - from municipal, provincial to federal?

From a party standpoint the middle means finding representatives of every gender, ethnic and religious leaning to make the middle a more rounded, multicultural “representative” of the fabric of modern Canadian life and to create a message that meets and greets the middle. They are trying from “Nominate Her” campaigns to open nominations among the newly created and established ridings that are changing existing political geographic lines across the country. But what does that look like in terms of meeting needs with policy for the middle?

Marketers would say that your target audience for buy in of your product is the middle. However we are still not sure what the parties are selling and aren’t really getting an indication that they know who the “middle” is in whose votes they are trying to sway. Kathleen Wynne was asked that question just last week of who the middle is – she told us to wait for the budget.

But the middle isn’t only a number. Just like Piper Chapman is thrown into a different reality of her self-defined middle class life into prison, many once self-defined middle class families find themselves on the edges of that social divide struggling under debt, a prolonged weak economy and rising costs of family life that show that the ends aren’t meeting in the middle. Yet politics still wants us all to belong there to relate to and be part of the middle where they can reach out with their policies and promises.

Why are we so uncomfortable to admit that Canadian families are increasingly not middle class, that they are beleaguered under increasing burdens? We can squirm and watch in fascination the raw dialogue of personas and their tragic life stories on Orange is the New Black but do we explore it enough in the dramatically shifting realities of average families in the long winter of economic slowdown, rising unemployment and poor family - work life balance? Do we look at a shrinking tax resource base that doesn’t include a balanced taxation system that leverages and brings the corporate sector in line to pay its share rather than hiding behind practices of recent years that have pandered to corporate revenue tax evasion? 

Orange is the New Black had me asking does everyone want to be in the middle? Is there social pressure "shame" of not belonging if you aren’t defining yourself as in the middle? Politicians want to cater to the middle - of course they do.  But the question is where are we right now and where do we want to be in the future? At some point we have to stop standing in the safety of an empty middle to walk along a path that really addresses what Canadians need to get us out of the red and back into the black.

For a fun poke at what the middle life looks like from an artist’s perspective check out  Suzanne Henitz Life Once Removed 

In Search of My Canadian Shula: Why finding our “Big Girl Voice” is only one part of the problem.

While the House of Commons opened with much buzz and fanfare over Justin Trudeau’s firing of all Liberal Senators last week and then forayed into below the belt behavior and off the cuff jabs at its newest Liberal MP initiate this week, I sat and wondered why all of these incidences were causing me to feel even more frustrated than usual. Where is there a political dialogue of substance? On the floor of the House and in realms of Twittersphere and Huffpost? Hardly. While both were seemingly blips in the ongoing tit for tat of “one upmanship” in the media their underlying messages were not.

After nearly a decade of living back in Canada my day to day as a writer and a professional means that I meet lots (and I mean LOTS) of dynamic and insightful women. Few if any of them wants to wade into politics even though their voices can, do and should matter. Those who have seem to get drowned out in the shuffle. Why?

Then I realized it – I am searching for my Canadian Shula.

Backtrack nearly twenty years ago when I was a nascent starry-eyed university student foraying into the Middle East and Israel through the back door when two “Shula’s” came into my life.  A newbie to the world of cultural divides and politics in Israel I decided to immerse myself in the “other” culture of the country and started to take Arabic studies out of the halls of academia and into the streets to learn local dialects.  I wanted to learn Arabic with students from Gaza. There was only one way to do it – under the tutelage of one Shulamit Katznelson at Ulpan Akiva.  A trailblazer in public health and education she rethought the social values of the newborn Jewish state and founded an integrative language education system that recognized that the “other” ie Arab or Palestinian was also part of what makes Israel “us”. She sat in the second Knesset (Parliament) of Israel and committed herself to a cultural mosaic of pluralism for Israel that included Jews Muslims and Christians where every viewpoint had value in shaping the country’s future. Shula fought for it and got it. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 she lectured tirelessly and ran her schools for decades long before the official peace talks and failed false starts of international brokerage. Her schools educated Druze, Arabs, Palestinians and Jews from Israel and abroad with satellite sites in Gaza and as far North as the Druze villages along the Syrian border. We lived, studied and ate together because how could you live side by side if you can’t break bread? Her priority was to ensure women shattered the language barrier because their voices and contributions needed to be heard and not marginalized. She brought Arab, Druze and Palestinian women into her mini utopia at a time when such things were unheard of. In me she saw the next generation of women and put me on my way to study full time under her mentorship for nearly two years.

Shulamit’s guidance landed me in the office of my other Shula, who sadly left us two weeks ago quietly and without much of a glance outside of Israel. Shulamit Aloni was the newly appointed Minister of Education when I stumbled into a chair in front of her in the late summer of 1992. I met with her over the course of several months in awe, this woman who as one of Israel’s first feminists fought for the protection of women against domestic violence. This woman who was the key figure in the formation of Meretz, a party that put peace and social change first. This woman looked me in the eye and said with absolute clarity – “Never be afraid to say what you think and to act on it.”

Shula fought her way through the brutal political sphere of Israeli politics for decades guided by a vision that both compassion and equality for the “other” was a non-negotiable tenant for a vibrant society.  She met with Israelis and Palestinians with equal measures of respect and criticism. Shulamit Aloni was guided by feminist principles and yes, Jewish values. She felt that women needed to be more involved in politics to be the driving force for legislation that would change how we shaped our society – from education to communication, to talking peace and declaring that Israel could not play the anti- Semitism card to hide its own failures. She passed away last month with her son commemorating her life’s work as “radical grace”.

Both of them laid out questions and challenges as to how Israel would define itself not just as a Jewish state but as a society where there were critical questions regarding its non-Jewish populations, religion and religious institutions within a democratic state where “church” was not outrightly separate. They protected the status of women and children within it from education for integration to educating in diversity. My Shulas were deeply rooted in the cultural making and shaping of the modern Israel while tied to their heritage of Jewish values as a landing point for dialogue and action.  Social justice and politics were a result of a heady combination of feminism, activism and motherhood. Lovers of people and the diversity of their voices, each had a vision of that the tapestry of the modern Jewish state would be its inherent strength and not a homogenous vision centered solely on the Jewish experience.

Where are my Shulas in Canada? Rabble rousing and outspoken on the issues that really matter? Where are the voices of innovation and change from the camp in society that both raises children AND runs business, from mompreneurs to senior executives? Reva Seth in her work MomShift maps out why these views matter and are important for the shaping of our modern society. We are the consummate balancers – yet we don’t yet own it fully in the political sphere. Yes we have different issues and concerns here in Canada compared to Israel. But how and where are they being tabled? So I ask, why is the female voice of conviction lost amongst our Canadian women politicians? Is it because they won’t or because they can’t?

Is it because they are beholden to party whip measures and caucuses that place their leaders front and centre rather than ideas from the wealth of leadership within the ranks? In Israel a party list system means that politicians vie to make their mark for themselves and their party. Is it the first past the post system that doesn’t let a voice shine through beyond your general likability and party principles? In Israel the political media landscape is vociferous, critical and open to airing the cacophony of voices and views of its 120 members of Knesset because its the viewpoints of the debate that matters, not an evaluation of one’s auditory skills, or critiques of beauty and aesthetic or from the blond ambitions who pursue leadership.  And Canadian women MPs are not the only ones. Appropriately in an op-ed in today’s Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff asks the question “Who would be a woman in politics?” with female MP’s from Europe to India facing rape threats, chauvinism, groping and the like.

Canadian women politicians are good at political housekeeping but have not yet had the opportunity to lead with statements of vision and change. In the quest for power and the creation of the party “brand” we have lost the potency of the individual opinions and ideas that make a party’s pursuits valuable and engaged with the public conscience. Women in particular have been placed as part of the face of the party but are essentially voiceless. While the numbers of Canadian women in politics is indeed rising, it’s not just about positions of power – it’s about powerful voices with an understanding and clarity of what they want to achieve. However they aren’t doing it in the House of Commons. Outside they are: Terri-Jean Bedford, Valerie Scott and Amy Lebovitch fighting for sex workers at the level of the Supreme Court, or as mothers such as Mrs. Edwina Eddy who fought for three decades to bring in EI legislation for families with critically ill children.

Memorable statements shouldn’t be about not “being your baby” or finding a “big girl voice”. We already have one – but getting it out is a bigger challenge than it should be in 2014. My Shulas would not have put up with it – neither should we.

For a view on Women in Politics in Canada from Elections Canada click here

Speaking about the Unspeakable - The Holocaust, its ghosts and criminalizing the word "Nazi"

Today, January 27^th, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In its 9^th year of commemoration the day was established in 2005 by the UN on the 60^th anniversary of the Holocaust. Each year the day is used by member nations as a day to teach children, young adults and even ourselves the impact of hate and how it leads to the suffering and tragedy of those who become its targets.

In Canada and in Israel Holocaust Memorial Days are commemorated on completely separate periods on the calendar, each with their own symbols tied to their collective memory and connection to this monumental tragedy in modern history. In Israel it is tied into the days leading up to commemorating the establishment of the Jewish state in April marking the country’s rise from the ashes of Europe. In Canada, Holocaust Education Week is part of the November 11 commemorations that mark Canada’s role in World War II.

So while each country takes to addressing its ghosts and demons of hatred and tragedy through memorials, education and days to mark our ascendance to a higher moral regard for humanity, Israel has upped the ante and has begun to pass with its first reading, a law that would criminalize the use of the word Nazi except in educational contexts. There is no denying that global anti-Semitism in on the rise, and takes it shape in many shifting forms, (some of which look like criticism of Israel at first glance). But the new anti-Semitism does not don the swastika or emblazon Nazi on its chest. Just look at the demonstrations in Paris yesterday where protest declared that “France is not home to the Jews” http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/160800/jew-france-is-not-yours-chant-anti-government-demonstrators-in-paris

So it begs the question: Why are we silencing old ghosts instead of addressing the current ones that sit (not so) quietly in our closets?

In our modern Canada the narrative of multiculturalism has set alongside it a series of well-established laws for hate crimes and battling racism. And while it’s a hallmark of Canadianism today it was not always the case.  From the riots at Christie Pitts in 1933 to a policy of  “none is too many”, Canada has come a long way to address its ghosts. Canada was once home to one of the largest Holocaust survivor populations outside of Israel while at the same time being a clearinghouse as the largest distribution centre for neo-Nazi propaganda in the 1990s. Canada has had to come face to face with its past and clean out the demons hiding behind its open doors, and in many ways it has. Working alongside Canadian Diaspora Jewry it has taken steps of publicly addressing the Holocaust and its victims as a means to unify the Canadian cause to be an outspoken critic against racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism on the world stage.

Israelis honour and recognize the roots of its past in the Holocaust as part of the story of the founding of the modern state. Its embedded in every aspect of the national right of passage of Jewish Israeli youth from Holocaust education, to trips to Auschwitz in high school as part of the curriculum, to visiting Yad Vashem as an integral part of military service induction. The haunting siren each April that brings the country to a standstill is a testament to the power of collective memory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeozUSWdoQA&

But with all of the education, memorials, and days we talk about the war, but we rarely talk about IT, the big IT – the ghosts and demons called “Nazi” whose hatred and racism, whose actions and damage lead to lives lost of Jews, homosexuals, Romas and the handicapped. IT is an embedded fear that remains deep in the heart of many and for some an even deeper shame of what wasn't done to stop it. The big IT that defining another as different, be it because they are gay, wear a hijab or because they are Jewish or Christian is reason to lay down words of revulsion and defilement is still part of what drives war and conflict today. We use the word Nazi to describe the most vile, most abhorrent behaviour. And yes, in some cases like in Seinfeld episodes, we try to laugh off the chains of horror that are attached to that word. Underneath it is the sadness and shame that these sentiments still exist. But the fear that the desensitizing of these words in day to day language use and thus the need to criminalize it is unfounded, as the root cause – racism – still exists. Its just hate by another name.

The ghosts aren’t in the word “Nazi”,  and criminalizing it won’t eradicate that – not now, not ever. Haters of Jews will find other words, other descriptives and reasons of why they declare their irrational loathing. And they will be loud. By practicing acts of silencing through law and the banning of words, we change nothing of their actions, we only allow the ghosts of hate to find new words and new mediums by which to use them. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is a time to look at the ghosts of our past, not only nearly 7 decades ago, but the demons that have continued to weave their evil, in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Staying silent should never be an option not then, and not ever.

Laws can’t change us – only we can. While hundreds of parliamentarians and survivors from around the world gathered at Auschwitz today, thousands marched through the streets of Paris yesterday declaring that France should be free of Jews. On the borders of Syria children lie freezing and dying as genocidal governments and radical rebels lay claim to justifying their actions while the world finally begins to referee but not fully step in. In the Central African Republic Muslims and Christians are in chaos and on the verge of genocide. Making the word “Nazi” illegal just won’t cut it, as the acts in the name of hate that we continue to not respond to are still criminal, regardless of the symbol or word we attach to it.

An Open Letter to PM Harper: Lessons I Learned from Yitzchak and Arik

Dear. Mr. Harper

Change isn’t easy – it never is. That being said, I thought I ‘d sit down and take a few minutes to write you a send off letter for your road trip to the Middle East. This being your first visit and all, and my being a Canadian Israeli who has worked under a former Israeli PM, I thought a few insider tips and insights might be helpful.  It’s a bit long but we have a lot to cover.

With Sharon’s recent passing and the stalled round of meetings we can mark how much time we have been stuck in the same foxtrot for peace (an old complex style of fancy footwork). He epitomized the contrast and conflict that characterizes Israeli politics. As a founding leader he literally bulldozed the landscape in the name of security and yet also withdrew from it. Ironically even in the current inertia amongst leaders who dig in their heels in obstinate tit for tat rhetoric, there isn’t complete stagnancy on the ground. Things move and change whether we like it or not.

The practical aim to keep Israel Jewish and democratic in a two state solution, (which is what Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and yes even you Mr. Harper want) – is waning. Fearfully, with each cycle of failed negotiations a one state democracy of Jews and Palestinians will gain momentum and may become the only moral imperative for the geographic area between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River in the eyes of an already critical world.  You’ve clearly shown yourself to be ready to stand against that reality as a moral obligation to the Jewish state time and again.

And now you are here for a visit – entering side stage, slowly gliding with a smile onto the centre of the dance floor called Israel and the Middle East.  You’re ready to back Israel and really step into the arena - that’s great – there are some lessons I learned while living and working in government over there that might be of help.

1.     Being strong sometimes means compromising. Living the life of a Sabra – Israeli - is tough, exuberant, and at times exhausting. Its always a challenge, and is often not graceful, but its sure footed even when the ground beneath may be crumbling in conflict. Sharon and many like him lived this way, knowing that loving the land and building a home for the Jewish people would lead to contradictions. Pulling back to keep what you cherish most safe is at times the only real answer. Yitzhak Rabin, knew this, so did Sharon, so does Shimon Peres. All men of war and politics, they understood that disengagement from the Palestinian Territories and a resolution were going to be the tools to ensure this special place that held the Jewish heart would have a future.

2.     Israel lives in a tough neighbourhood. Sharon understood that and put the defense of the country first. But as a unilateral decision maker (sort of like you and your friend Bibi) he made mistakes, reckless judgments and then learned from them. In the Middle East, war and politics can run at warp speed – I’m just not sure that Canada can keep up. Certainly a kind supportive word helps in a crisis, but are you really prepared to step into it beyond a warm relationship that is essentially a diplomatic holding pattern of the status quo? It will change in a flash at some point – are you sure you’re ready? Words won't cut it when it does.

3.     Israelis are passionate, creative and innovative in spite of the conflict that surrounds them. Its GDP would be the envy of most Western nations if it wasn’t for the ongoing cost of defense, and state sponsored settlement subsidization with programs that include income tax breaks, cheaper housing and purchase incentives to live over the Green Line. You’re going to support Israel but why? Israel doesn’t really need Canada if its just about economic ties. Tech wise they are light years ahead and Canadian investment hasn’t “shown the money” that Israeli start-ups seek. We’re slow here and our economy is stagnating – the numbers just came in. So what are you offering if only a warm shoulder of support and to hold up old ideas that just won’t work in the long term for the Jewish State?

4.     Time is working against a resolution to the conflict. Arik recognized like Yitzhak Rabin before him that the clock is ticking on a two state solution. Already in spite of the ongoing conflict younger generations are looking at different alternatives, among both Palestinians and Israelis. Positioning Canada to be Israel’s friend on only the economic front with a watered down hands off approach to the realpolitik of Israel isn’t useful nor does it characterize what Canada could be doing to contribute meaningfully in the region.

Being Israel’s ally while ignoring the realities of the conflict is a limited view when its shaped largely in part by personal convictions and a Jewish Diaspora. However supportive and proud the Diaspora is of Israel, it cannot and should not try to live vicariously through the Israeli experience. They are fundamentally different. A shared religion and cultural heritage yes, a common history yes, a common fight against the global rise in anti-Semitism yes, but a modern narrative that is poles apart when it comes to the future of the Jewish state.  Bibi appreciates your unwavering support but your buy-in with Israelis is short sighted because as Canadians you’re not bringing much to the table at the moment other than a solidarity flag. Yes they are grateful for that, but its not enough. Good friends on the international stage help their allies get out of the mud, not just step into it with them. In this case Israel needs a good friend not just a good ally. Canadian foreign policy once had that as its hallmark. It’s the same foreign policy approach and vision that lead me to return to Israel in the first place in the early ‘90s to study diplomacy there – because I had a different view from here.

The entrepreneurial spirit of the passionate Sabra who has a zeal for growth and innovation isn’t reflective in the political landscape that Canadians perceive of Israel at the moment. Many see a tireless conflict of haves and have nots, injustices and violence that are part of a very complex narrative. However, Israelis are tired. Nation building alongside a neighbouring state just isn’t on the agenda anymore. The middle class poor, racism and the multitude of issues that are the malaise of many Western democracies exist in Israel too. And those issues aren’t getting addressed at the state level, because Israeli domestic politics have centred around unifying the national questions of security, and survival in a land where the conflict is domestic policy, and not some war waged somewhere else.

Politics in Israel, and under the Palestinian Authority is about holding power in fractured political systems, and stagnant policies that do not initiate real change. For Israel under Netanyahu it has meant building settlements while demanding recognition, instilling a unifying sense of common enemies – the PA, Hamas and Iran - to remain dancing to the same old tune in a coalition built on settler values and right wing viewpoints.

For Palestinians under the PA they too stick to their dance routine, crying foul to every bulldozer because it’s easier to perpetuate a myth of a full return to a land that they know they need to share. In fear of losing power they ignore rampant corruption and internal struggles for influence. I get why Canada is reducing aid to the PA- they need to get their house in order, but what are we doing to facilitate that beyond financial reprimands?

For Canadians it’s the reality that the same problems and many more that lay ahead as we fall further behind in stabilizing our economy. Our role internationally as a medium power with a legacy of being the honest broker is slowly eroding. In the name of economic policy Canada is systematically shutting out the need for multilateral diplomacy as a global citizen.

Being an ally with Israel means facilitating making the hard choices. Mr. Harper, you are going to visit Israel to show the world that Israel deserves to be recognized as the only democracy in the Middle East and a Jewish one at that. You’re right - it does. It also has to take the steps necessary for getting out of this slow and painful waltz. Of course trade and technology, water conservation and even natural gas are important. But the bottom line is: without a stable society that isn’t burdened politically and economically by conflict it’s just not sustainable. Israel has been a fly by the seat of your pants state for over 60 years and has done it beautifully to great success. But we can all do better to prevent another generation of Israelis and Palestinians being conscripted into protracted conflict.

I hope on your visit you meet with Israelis like Nitzan Horowitz of Meretz and Yitzhak Herzog of Labour– Israeli political parties who really are in it for the long haul and trying to elicit change. I hope you meet with Palestinians like Bashar Masri who is building new visions for sustainable Palestinian communities in the West Bank. And Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish a leader in medical research in Israel who now lives here, yes in Canada, but whose story brought Israel to a standstill one dreadful night in January of 2009 when his Gazan home was bombed by Israeli troops in Operation Cast Lead killing three of his daughters. Amazingly he is still an advocate of peace because of his conviction that it is the only option for both sides. Meet them- hear their stories and views – they matter in understanding what makes Israel tick.

You and Mr. Netanyahu have applauded yourselves for repeating the mantra on Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. It does and its true. However, the condescension in your “rightness” – is leading you both on the road to nowhere, where one day you may wake up to a new Israel that is a binational one rather than a vision you could shape now with actions, not only words.  Gregory David Roberts in his book Shantaram, aptly wrote:“[p]oliticians soldiers and holy men are only ever good at what they do if they stay humble”.  Israel in all that it represents - all of its history and hopes, all that it endures and inflicts is humbling.  Mr. Harper as you travel to the Middle East for the first time, I hope you see the beauty and the energy of this place of purpose and think about what this trip could be but most likely won’t as you and Mr. Netanyahu risk becoming the last couple on the dance floor long after the spotlight is out.