Ofer

Judith Hertog

Name: Ofer Mousai

Age: 37

Place of residence: Tel Aviv



What are your hopes and expectations for the future of this land? "I hope the level of education here will improve, because this society is becoming increasingly stupid. It’s sad. You can feel it in people’s attitudes. People are more narrow-minded, less accepting of others. People who themselves are of Iraqi origin will say things like, “Death to the Arabs!” without realizing that they themselves are Arabs of Jewish origin!



Bibi [Netanyahu] is a charlatan -- a very smart one -- and he runs the whole country for his own profit. I’ll vote for whoever who can rid the parliament of corruption. It’s the corruption that is causing war and widening the wealth gap. The rich are getting rich and the rest is getting poorer. Just like in the U.S.



But I don’t align myself with either the right or the left. The only thing I know to be constant is death. Except for that, everything is changeable and subjective. I don’t agree with foreign media opinions of Israel. When I read The New York Times, it’s as if people look at you through some filter of their own biases. You can also see it in the UN resolutions. They have denounced Israel, but not North Korea, China, Turkey, Iran, or Iraq ... How is that possible? Are we the only bad guys?



All in all, it’s good to live here. I can’t imagine living in anywhere else. I like visiting Holland and the U.S., but I’d go crazy living there. But I have applied for a Dutch passport. Just in case ...



There are two things I’m afraid of: I find it difficult to let go of the idea of Israel as a Jewish country. Maybe it’s because I’ve been indoctrinated with all this talk about the Holocaust and how the Muslims don’t like us. Maybe I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t want there to be a Muslim majority here. It scares me.



My second fear is that this country becomes a fundamentalist Jewish society. It’s basically the same fear. I’m afraid of all religious fundamentalism, either Jewish or Muslim, because people who think in absolutes don’t look you in the eye; you can’t reason with them. They have some ultimate truth in their mind that cuts them off from humanity."