No flags?

Daniel Gordis is an astute observer of Israeli society.

Here is what he writes this week:

"For a few days, I thought that perhaps I was misremembering. But as the days after Pesach continued to flow by, it was clear. Something was different. In years past, almost as soon as Pesach was over, the country would be festooned in blue and white. Flags fluttered from the windows of cars everywhere, and hung from the porches of buildings throughout the city. It seemed you couldn’t stop at a single red light without someone trying to sell you a flag to put on your car. And almost everyone bought them.

Not this year, though. Sure, there’s still the occasional car with flags attached to the rear window, and in our neighborhood, a few porches are sporting blue and white. Right before Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, I imagine, there will be even more. But there’s no denying. Relative to what there was a few years ago, and even last year, there’s almost nothing. That flags are gone. "

And the minute I read this, it clicked that he is perfectly correct. This year there are significantly fewer flags.

Yes - people are not feeling so proud of their country. With a terribly bungled war last summer that embarrassed the entire country, with so many senior politicians under serious investigation, with our soldiers captured and no return in sight, with a governmnet which is widely perceived as inept, people are just not as excited to celebrate "Israel" this year.

Sad... but true!