Forecast Highs

Literally trying to shake her ‘ice-queen’ image by appealing to young voters, Foreign Minister and Prime Ministerial Candidate from Kadima Tzipi Livni boogied and shimmied her way through hundreds of people at the trendy Haoman 17 nightclub in south Tel-Aviv late Tuesday night.

Wearing tight jeans, a white T-shirt and jacket, Livni, 51, entered the packed nightclub, waded through the crowd and made her way to the DJ station, where she made a quick speech, put on headphones and dedicated Mashina’s “Ein Makom Acher” [no other place] to those gathered, saying they would be the ones to bring change to the country. The party started early, at 9PM; usually, not even the bar staff are at Haoman 17 before 11PM. Livni arrived at 22:30 moved through the club, played a short DJ set, danced on stage and left.

The nightclub visit, organized by young Kadima MKs and activists, was the normally aloof Livni’s latest attempt to capture public attention after last week playing the gender card by accusing her opponents of being chauvinistic. She was also profiled on the cover of the most widely read women’s magazine in Israel, La Isha [for the woman].

While meticulously planned, organizers seemed to have overlooked the fact that at least several dozen of the people brought in for the party were under age, and some were drinking – which is illegal. There were also many people smoking inside the club, which is also illegal. By the time Livni made her entrance the nightclub was packed to the hilt with what looked like well over a thousand people - possibly violating the legal attendance limit.

Kadima organizers employed ten party promoters to bring in people for the event from across the country. There were three busloads of young people from Ashdod and Ashkelon (where a Grad rocket had landed earlier in the day), and a bus from Migdal Ha’emek. There were many young Russians in the crowd, further evidence that Kadima, like Labor and Likud, is focusing efforts on attracting the Russian vote.

The ‘nightclub rally’ was advertised on Facebook as “The Last Chance Party: Youngsters for Clean Politics”. Two youngsters from Modiin and Holon came because, they said, it was a chance to get into Haoman 17 without a cover charge [which can sometimes get to NIS 140]. “I’m still not sure who I’m going to vote for but I’m leaning towards Livni because the other two candidates have both been Prime Ministers and failed,” one of them said.

As the nightclub filled up with people more and more Israel Security Agency [Shabak] guards also arrived, some in uniform while others were undercover, occasionally talking into little microphones in their sleeves. If there were this many guards during a normal night at any of Tel-Aviv’s mega clubs there probably wouldn’t be so many incidents of stabbings, shootings and firebombing that take place almost every weekend. Surrounded by guards, Livni made her entrance to a boosted-up hard techno version of Livni Boy’s: “Tzipi, You’re what I wanted.” Looking more like a celebrity or a nightclub owner, Livni, surrounded tightly by her guards, waded through the throng from one side of the club to the other, kissing and hugging dozens of people.

The scene created by the organizers, and crafted from behind-the-scenes by PR guru Eyal Arad, resembled a post-election victory party for a prime minister rather than a pre-election stump at a rented-out nightclub on a Tuesday night by a candidate trailing in the polls by at least four points, with one week to go. Scores of media were invited, including a large contingent of European press. Livni’s tactics of focusing on the women’s and youth vote seem to be paying off, as latest polls indicate a narrowing of the gap between Kadima and Likud. This momentum away from Likud could also be ascribed to the continued rise of Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beitenu party. Livni may have also been trying to take the spotlight off rising star Lieberman, who happens to be a former nightclub bouncer from Moldova. A 19-year-old soldier and first-time voter said at Haoman that she was voting for Livni because she was a woman, and because of Livni’s stated aim to bring back kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit.

Joining Livni at the party were young MKs Yohanan Plessner and Yoel Hasson, as well as veteran ministers Ronnie Bar-On and Ze’ev Boim. At one point, the head of Israel’s Foreign Affairs Defense Committee, MK Tzahi Hanegbi, got on stage and danced a little hesitantly, saying he needed a few more beers before he could really cut loose.