Israel Warts
And All

Morton Teicher
Special to the Jewish News

G

regory Levey's Shut Up
I'm Talking — And Other
Diplomacy Lessons I
Learned in the Israeli Government
(Free Press; $24) is both a funny and
a scary book.
It's funny because Levey has a
great sense of humor and tells the
story of his employment by the
Israeli government over a three-year
period with remarkable hilarity. It's
scary because Levey frankly depicts
the ineptitude and incompetence
of Israeli bureaucrats — although
he wonders whether or not they are
unique since he thinks
all governments may
be "a bit wacky."
Born in South
Africa and raised
in Toronto where he
attended a day school
with Israeli teachers,
Levey was a 25-year
old law student in New
York when he decided
to relieve his boredom
by applying for an
internship at the Israel
mission to the U.N.
After a few months
of a frustrating run-
around, he was interviewed on the
phone every day for several weeks by
an Israeli security agent who asked
what often seemed to be silly ques-
tions.
At last, Levey was invited to meet
with Israel's deputy ambassador to
the U.N., who began the interview by
telling Levey, "We don't offer intern-
ships." He then offered Levey a job
as a speechwriter — if he passed a
committee interview and a further
security check.
One of the questioners in the com-
mittee interview requested "a
brief rundown of the United States'
involvement in the Second World War."
The security check took a couple of
months, and Levey finally reported for
duty; the deputy ambassador opened
their meeting by telling Levey "an
incredibly dirty joke."

A series of comical episodes reaches
an absurd climax in which Levey
finds himself representing Israel at a
General Assembly session where, with
no instructions, he has to cast Israel's
vote on a resolution that he knows
nothing about. His frantic efforts to
seek guidance from the Israel mission
were finally answered after the ballot-
ing had been completed.
Almost matching the silliness of
this episode is a scene where Levey
meets Silvan Shalom, the foreign
minister of Israel, whose forthcom-
ing speech to the U.N. was written,
in part, by Levey. Several other
Israeli officials also were present to
review the final draft of the speech.
Shalom is dressed in
his underwear for the
meeting.
Levey was complet-
ing the requirements
for his law degree by
studying at night and
planning to resign to
join his girlfriend in
Washington when he
was asked to write
a speech for Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon,
who was visiting New
York to secure support
for his plan to withdraw
from Gaza.
The prime minister liked the
speech, and Levey was invited to come
to Jerusalem to work in the prime
minister's office. While he was asked
to come immediately, the bureaucracy
took several frustrating months to
clear him.
He then worked with more vexa-
tions, first for Sharon and then for
Prime Minister Olmert after Sharon's
stroke. Fed up with the irritations and
difficulties of life in Israel, Levey and
his girlfriend, who had joined him in
Israel, decided to leave.
Now in Toronto, where he teaches
at Ryerson University in the commu-
nications department, Levey watches
developments in Israel with great
interest and wishes Israel well. But he
wonders whether or not it can "fix the
systemic problems in both the govern-
ment and the military."

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July 3 • 2008

C5

