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Meet Moshe Soprano

I try to give the people what they want (I’ve been a news guy most of my life), and a lot of people are talking about the cable on Wikileaks from Tel Aviv a year ago about all the organized crime in Israel, and the fears of that o.c. spreading to the U.S. (because after all we’re joined at the hip). Raimondo loves the cable.  A couple more responses:

1. A friend: What does this tell us about the occupation and Zionism? There are entrenched organized crime networks in many, if not most societies. But where else would an organized crime family get a reality show? Maybe Russia. To me it shows lawlessness is socially acceptable in some way and that may well be connected to the occupation. 

2. I asked our regular commenter Shmuel about it, including the reality show angle:

OC is definitely a big problem in Israel, and the ills of Israeli society (including racism, occupation, etc.) all feed off one another in many different ways. I haven’t read anything on the subject, but I presume it has been addressed by Israeli sociologists (a very quick google brought something up about lawlesslessness and internal institutional weakness stemming from post-67 settlement). Some of the things described in the cables (eg. the lack of impact of high profile arrests on OC operations on the ground) are very reminiscent of the situation in Italy, brilliantly described by Roberto Saviano (who recently made some very stupid pro-Israel remarks, BTW).

When I was in Israel this summer, Saviano’s book had just come out in Hebrew. I wonder if anyone has tried to draw any parallels or, more interestingly, examined the differences. I don’t think the reality show (a model/reporter spent a couple of weeks in the Alperon household about 4 years ago) tells us very much about the acceptability of lawlessness. Alperon was Israel’s real-life Tony Soprano. Makes for popular TV.

3. Somewhat unrelated, but I’d note that the cable-writer expressed the concern that Israel could export its organized crime to the U.S. because so many Israelis come over here. Well, right on schedule:

The Baltimore Sun reports that a former Israeli special forces agent who is part of an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood-patrol attacked a black teenager, 15, in Baltimore, saying You don’t belong here, and broke his wrist.

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