Israel's Torch Bearers

The torch bearers of the central celebrations of Israel's 64th anniversary were selected by the Government Public Relations Office among people they imagined represented Israel's water sector, so I happen to know some of them personally. Alex Viznitzer was my direct boss for two years and today manages Mekorot Water Corporation; Giora Shaham wrote a Water Masterplan that was submitted to me for comments (his salary of 40 000 shekel made me bitter). They are good people but they were selected for symbolizing institutions (like Mekorot) and projects (the Hula agricultural lands re-engineering as a "natural" swamp) more than their personal achievements. Two that deserve the honor are Herzl Naor, a collegue in TAHAL who developed most boreholes in the Aravah valley, a real pioneer (a good fellow, he helped me in my Judean Desert development project), and Prof. Menachem Rebhun, a senior consultant for TAHAL. For some reason, the people from the Technion and the Hebrew University at Rehovoth were unjustly passed over. Also the people who made Israel's desalination revolution were forgotten, and the people from the irrigation sector, probably because they work in the private sector and therefore cannot have any merit. Interestingly, only government employees were honoured. "Greens" from the education and ecology areas took their place: Uri Moran, the manager of a boarding school (a client of mine that I mentioned somewhere in this blog) and Maya Braun, whose high school science project was "Water Purification by Sun Irradiation" - an eternal favorite of green amateurs and of zero applicability. From the PR's diversity angle I understand that a fresh maydele (pic) had to be included among those decrepit "White" men, but then why a suffering Palestinian water-carrier woman and an Ethiopian homosexual waterfall painter were absent? Apartheid, that is why.