Israel Post: A Mirror of Israeli Society
Ma’ariv, Israel, July 4
Israel Post is a prime example of the moral, economic, and ideological decay that has engulfed the State of Israel. This public body serves as a mirror for the disintegration of the country and its decline into chaos. In the last three years, Israel Post has lost over $500 million, forcing the government to invest a similar amount in a recovery plan which mainly focused on improving the efficiency of the organization by incentivizing the early retirement of employees. It is clear that the pathology plaguing the nation is serious—these figures demonstrate that Israel is in a state of deep and long-standing moral, economic, and ideological decay. The disappointing performance of an authority that is charged with providing an essential service to the public in an inept and abject fashion is nothing short of old news. We have already experienced a dress rehearsal of such incompetence, for example when banks started shutting down branches and delivering us an inconvenient digital experience, requiring us to make advanced reservations for appointments; a practice that was supposedly meant only for the coronavirus era. In comparison to the dismal conditions of the banks, Israel Post is a defunct organization taking its final steps on its road towards a hard-earned expiration, an arm-in-arm march alongside its chum, the Ministry of the Interior. Who among us has requested a passport and been denied one? Today, it is enough to enter a random post office to understand the dire situation: a dingy floor strewn with documents and cardboard boxes, long lines of disgruntled, perspiring people queuing outside the branch, dilapidated counters adorned with tattered neon red posters, antiquated safes, corroded from the era of the British Mandate, an unreliable appointment system, and dispirited counter workers demonstrating the patience of a millennial on the run. Even the recent PR campaign launched by the company—clever and pertinent as it may be—cannot rescue Israel Post from itself. What it needs right now is euthanasia. This is precisely where the privatization process is crucial. It has been the subject of much scrutiny and debate, a process that only the Israeli government could devise. As of Wednesday, the Treasury is set to approve the privatization of the postal service, allocating $110 million for the early retirement of 426 postal workers. This decision clashes with the inexplicable resolve of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to dismiss the chairman of the postal service. Last night, however, the finance minister opted to forgo any further confrontation and accept the dismissal. In a detailed published rebuttal, the company refuted the communications minister’s allegations against it and its chairman. According to the rebuttal, the minister’s decision to remove the chairman was aimed at reviving a corrupt political environment and rendering invalid appointments to the postal company, which could further endanger the privatization process and drain a large sum of state funding. The Israel Post’s iconic galloping doe logo is meant to conjure an image of a fast, resilient, and noble creature; qualities sorely lacking in both Israel and its postal service. Tragically, this mythical doe has been shot, just like a package that never arrived at its destination. Not even Disney could dream up a more tragic ending to a lovely mascot. We would recommend that the Israel Post change their logo to something more fitting, perhaps a sea turtle with mercury poisoning, struggling to reach its destination. —Sharon Luxenburg (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
