Forecast Highs

Just sat in on the final panel of President Shimon Peres’ ‘Facing Tomorrow’ Conference, where Mr. Television Haim Yavin hosted Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

All four politicians were asked by the moderator to give a speech, lasting ten minutes, about what Israel means to them. Needless to say, each one used the opportunity to present what amounted to his/ her own electoral platform. Perhaps they are smelling elections in the air.

The speeches were void of any real headlines or news; just the fact that all four of them were on the stage together was interesting in itself. What I found more interesting however was the crowd’s reactions to each of the speakers. There were at least several thousand conference -goers in attendance, and I think many of them were tired and restless at the end of a very busy three-day conference.

Instead of dissecting what the speakers said, I thought I’d give you an observation of the level of chatter and patter by the audience members during the speeches as an indication of who was charismatic and who was not, who held the audience’s attention and who meandered and lost the crowd, which messages were welcomed and which missed the mark. I call the it chatter-and-patter-o-meter, from 1 [audience chatted amongst themselves very little and were absorbed by what the speaker was saying] to 5 [audience basically ignored the speaker and chatted and pattered away freely].

First up was Ehud Barak, who, like any man who has spent half his life in the military, divided his comments into two sections: the first about security, where he coined the phrase “ruthless patience” ["especially at a time when the blood boils we must not act impulsively, we'll act against the terror from Gaza at the right time"] and education [my wish is to one day be both Prime Minister and Education Minister at the same time]. Chatter and patter level - 2 out of 5. He spoke with authority and passion and most people listened. He still has that mistique about him, and he is Israel’s ultimate Mr. Security.

Next was Eli Yishai, who spoke about the need to reinforce Jewish values in education and integrate the ultra-Orthodox into the employment sector. He also said that Israel could only make peace with the Palestinians once they made peace with themselves. Chatter and patter level: 2 out of 5. Yishai was well received and spoke with his usual eloquence.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was next. Lots of audience cheer as she walked up to the podium, including a standing ovation by 5 young activists, but the chatter and patter started almost immediately as Livni began speaking. Some people even answered their phones. Peres’ aide even went up to him, whispered something into the President’s ear, and retreated. This is not the first audience I’ve seen not overwhelmed or enthralled by Livni’s speeches. She did receive a round of applause when she said Israel needed a constitution. Chatter and patter level: 4 out of 5. Our foreign minister doesn’t seem to have the charisma or message to keep an audience glued to their seats and their mouths shut.

Lastly, the great orator himself, Bibi Netanyahu. I was surprised by the amount of chatter here, I’d put it at about a 3 to 3.5. Bibi just wasn’t on top of his game. Once he started talking about economic projects ["let's drastically lower the price of air tickets to Israel and even Bethlehem and let's get all these Christian evangelicals to come visit us"] his eyes lit up and the chatter died down somewhat, but still he wasn’t his usual crowd-pleasing self. Barak, Yishai, and Livni chatted and pattered quite a lot amongst themselves during Bibi’s speech, not taking him too seriously.

To summarize, in descending order of charisma:

Barak: 2 out of 5

Yishai: 2 out of 5

Bibi: 3-3.5 out of 5

Livni: 4 out of 5