The new names of the year

CARL ALPERT SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Names make the news. Some make their appearance like meteors, attract vivid attention and then disappear. Others remain on the scene and become permanent fixtures. Each year at this season we take inventory of the 10 names that made their first appearance in the Israeli headlines during the past 12 months. Once listed in previous years, a name is no longer eligible for mention.

Here is the year's list, in alphabetical order:

Esther Alon, a senior member of the staff of the small Trade Bank, carried out an unprecedented theft of 250 million shekels from the bank. Sharing the headlines with her was her brother, Ofer Maximov, an inveterate gambler and the ultimate recipient of the money. He was extradited from Rumania to stand trial here.
Effie Eitam rose high in the military ranks, achieving the rank of general despite his espousal of Orthodox Judaism. But he really made the news when he doffed his uniform, joined the National Religious party and became the active head of that party.

Dalia Itzik, who was active in the Labor party, became the minister of industry and trade in the unity government. She really cracked the headlines this year when Shimon Peres chose her to be Israel's ambassador to Great Britain, despite her lack of any diplomatic experience and her reputed weak knowledge of the English language.

Ephraim Kishon was awarded this year the prestigious Israel Prize for life achievement. For decades, Kishon's byline topped some of Israel's best humor writing, but professional jealousies and his espousal of a particular political line resulted in so little personal publicity, it almost constituted a conspiracy of silence against him – until this year.

David Klein, as governor of the Bank of Israel, has been in a position to influence the direction of Israel's economy. This influence he exercised repeatedly during the year by periodically raising or lowering the bank's interest rate and by open assault on the policies of the Ministry of Finance.

Michael Melchior, former rabbi of the Jewish community in Oslo, Norway, took up residence in Israel, became active in politics and was named deputy minister of foreign affairs, representing the Meimad party in the unity government. He has been in the news frequently, espousing a line that seeks harmony between the religious and the secular, the nationalist and the so-called peace camp on the local scene.

Sari Nusseibeh, in the search for a "moderate" Palestinian leader, had his name as the one most frequently mentioned, though he endorses major planks in the Palestine Authority platform. He serves as PLO commissioner for Jerusalem and as president of Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem.

Silvan Shalom, minister of finance, has been the centre of controversy because of his program for revision of Israel's tax laws, and his presentation of a drastically streamlined government budget for 2003, which, it is alleged, will have harmful effects on the lower socio-economic strata of the population.

Anna Smashnova, Israel's leading tennis star, has had an erratic year, winning some tournaments and being ignominiously eliminated in the first rounds of others. Her high point was reaching the rank of 16th in the world.

Tatiana Soponova, a native of Moscow, was badly wounded when she stopped her car on a road outside Moscow to remove an offensive anti-Semitic sign, which had been booby-trapped and exploded in her face. She was given medical treatment in Israel and her eyesight was restored.

The following are the 10 names listed last year. How many do you remember? Alex Averbuch, Daniel Barenboim, Mohammad Dura, Margalit Har-Shefi, Lenny Krayzelburg, Lt.-General Shaul Mofaz, Shalhevet Pass, Omri Sharon, Sallah Tarif, Lt. Roni Zuckerman.

Carl Alpert is a freelance writer living in Haifa.

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