The actual phrase, as I am sure many blog followers know, is “Those who can, do; those who can't, teach”.
Somewhat degrading to teachers, no?
And while the headline may seem outrageous to many, I concede that many MKs are dedicated and genuinely want to serve their country and improve the lot of all citizens.
The problem appears that over the past 20/25 years, more clowns have managed to find their way into the hallowed halls of Israel’s parliament. I’m sure that if we go back 40, or 50 years we will find that all MKs were of a different caliber.
As someone remarked to me recently, you don’t have to be a moron, nincompoop, braindead, or twit to win a place in the Knesset, but it certainly helps if you are.
It’s important to remember that MKs are public servants. Their salaries, and perks all come from the public purse and as such are far game and open to ridicule when they, as they often do, say or do dumb things.
Below are recent examples of what I believe my interlocutor referred to.
This is from Likid MK Nissim Vaturi.
“Likud MK: Some parents try to make their sons gay by giving them dolls to play with”
Nissim Vaturi defends granting of control over vendor-provided curricula in schools to far-right lawmaker Avi Maoz, urges no promotion of any kind of gender identity
https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-mk-some-parents-try-to-make-their-sons-gay-by-giving-them-dolls-to-play-with/
And Shas MK, Yosef Taieb it would appear needs reading glasses or maybe he did have the desire to hear about improving gay rights in Israel.
Did Aryeh Deri and/or the Shas rabbis give him a serve slap on the wrist?
“Ultra-Orthodox MK cheered for (mistakenly) joining LGBTQ rights meet”
“Shas’s Yosef Taieb slips out shortly after Knesset LGBTQ lobby members applaud him, thinking he’d joined discussion intentionally; he apparently expected a Higher Education meeting”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-mk-cheered-for-mistakenly-joining-lgbtq-rights-meet/
It could well be argued that Shas MKs are amongst the least educated in the Knesset. They would probably claim that if true, it was due to lack of educational opportunity as they were not Ashkenazi!
Shas MK, Yinon Azoulay shows his lack of education.
“After Shas MK mocks Liberman’s Moldovan origin, envoy protests ‘ignoramus’ remark”
“Ambassador responds with ‘extreme dismay’ to Yinon Azoulay’s mention of his country ‘in a negative connotation’ while feuding with Yisrael Beytenu leader”
“In response, Shas MK Yinon Azoulay called Liberman “the ignoramus from Moldova” and claimed he had “no right to talk about the Vilna Gaon,” comments that Yisrael Beytenu later charged were racist.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-shas-mk-mocks-libermans-moldovan-origin-envoy-protests-ignoramus-remark/
I am not a Likud supporter/voter, no surprises there. That said, I have always considered Israel Katz, the current Energy Minister, to be someone who thinks clearly before speaking, as befitting a former foreign, finance, and transport minister.
Not so, it would seem. Mr. Katz had his own “It’s not me sir, it's him” moment recently following massive electricity outages across many parts of the country.
“Meanwhile, Energy Minister Israel Katz blamed the previous government — which fell five months ago — for the outages.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/power-outages-spark-heated-accusations-as-grid-fails-to-meet-sweltering-demand/
Maybe Minister Katz suffers from selective memory? Let me remind him. It is public record that Benjamin Netanyahu served as Prime Minister of Israel from March 2009 thru June 2021.
Therefore Minister Katz, it is your party that is to blame, should you wish to attribute blame to anyone.
Knesset clowns come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Here is what the veteran journalist Nehemia Shtrasler recently wrote about Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in a recent Haaretz opinion piece.
“Israel's Far-right Finance Minister Talks Nonsense and Calls It Economics” “We have never had a finance minister as oblivious and delusional as Bezalel Smotrich. He doesn’t listen to the advice of his own ministry’s economists, openly disdains warnings from experts, and has constructed an imaginary world for himself in which”.
I often quote Samuel Johnson’s remarks on patriotism. “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”
Recently I came across a patriotism quote attributed to Oscar Wilde of all people. “Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious”.
Strikes me as being most fitting for Itamar Ben Gvir, Avi Maoz, Benzi Gopstein, and Baruch Marzel and their assorted band of ultra-nationalist misfits.
And, as if further proof was needed, look at the breaking story below. When reading it, remember ‘that there is no smoke with fire’.
“Jewish far-right extremist Benzi Gopstein said advising Ben Gvir on police issues”
“Sources close to national security minister deny report but concede leader of racist and anti-LGBTQ Lehava group, who has been banned from running for Knesset, is ‘close friend”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-extremist-benzi-gopstein-said-advising-ben-gvir-on-police-issues/
No surprise that Yair Lapid lambasts Ben Gvir.
“Lapid brands Ben Gvir ‘worst’ police minister ever, urges Netanyahu to sideline him”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lapid-brands-ben-gvir-worst-police-minister-ever-urges-netanyahu-to-sideline-him/
In conjunction with the above misfits, it is worth recalling Edmund Burke’s rejoinder: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.