Israel's justice minister sells 'fascist fragrance'
On March 18, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked unveiled a “100-day plan” she intends to implement in the judicial system if and when she resumes her position after the April 9 elections. Shaked insists repeatedly that she has carried out a judicial revolution in recent years and that voters must allow her to continue her transformational reforms. The following day, her New Right party aired a video clip that immediately became the talk of the campaign. The black-and-white, slow-motion footage was meant to resemble typical perfume commercials, presenting Shaked as a model for a perfume called Fascism. With background piano music and close-ups of Shaked in provocative poses, she is heard whispering suggestively the words “judicial revolution,” “judicial appointments,” “curbing judicial activism,” “separation of powers,” “restraint of the Supreme Court" and, of course, “fascism.” The final frame has Shaked spraying herself with perfume, looking straight at the camera and saying, “To me, it smells like democracy."
The clip drew immediate global media attention. After all, it is not every day they see an Israeli government minister displaying herself as an attractive model. The Washington Post, for example, dubbed the mock campaign ad “bizarre,” saying it shows a member of a government often accused by its critics of fascism actually advertising fascism. The British Guardian reminded the minister that a host of laws she had championed emit a strong scent of fascism, such as the Nationality Law and the appointment of conservative judges she had engineered, and her repeated calls to rein in the judicial system that protects Israeli democracy. In other words, for critics of Israeli policies, Shaked’s “spoof” ad served as an admission of guilt — as if to say "even the justice minister no longer denies what we have been saying all along about Israel."
Israel media, however, focused mostly on the packaging rather than the content. Some argued the clip was sexist, objectifying the body of the attractive minister in the service of her party, which is behind in the polls. Others wondered whether the campaign managers had made a mistake with a mock ad somewhat inappropriate for voters of a conservative party, many of them religious Jews. However, the substance — though hardly addressed — is far more troubling.
“Shaked will overcome the Supreme Court; Bennett will defeat Hamas” is the newly minted campaign slogan of the New Right party led by Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/03/israel-justice-minister-ayelet-shaked-video-elections-judges.html#ixzz5iq3KRkq8
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