Rosh Hashana is less than two weeks away.
That means Sephardim are waking
up early to say slihot prayers, honey is on sale, and politicians have started
hosting their annual New Year’s toasts.
Vice Premier Silvan Shalom and
Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein will kick off the toast season Monday
night with a large event for Likudniks in Or Yehuda. They will be followed by MK
Danny Danon and the World Likud, which Danon chairs, hosting an event in Rishon
Lezion.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak will raise glasses with Independence
Party activists in Tel Aviv Thursday. Unlike Likud events, which normally
feature apples, honey, and burekas, the Independence party will boast lasagne,
linguine Parmesan and other dairy delights.
Next Monday, Deputy Negev and
Galilee Development Minister Ayoub Kara and Knesset House Committee chairman
Yariv Levin will honor young Likud activists in Haifa, and on Tuesday Education
Minister Gideon Sa’ar will host a large event in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu will close out the pre-Rosh Hashana toast season next
Thursday with an event for Likud activists in Tel Aviv.
The same night,
Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz will host his party’s event at Kadima’s Petah Tikva
headquarters.
Unlike in past years, no Kadima MKs are hosting private
events.
“In the past MKs had to figure out how to get to Tiberias,
Jerusalem and Ashkelon the same night,” a Kadima activist said. “It’s not what
it once was.
It’s sad.”
But Rosh Hashana is not the only holiday
for toasts. On October 2 Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz will host Likud
activists in his succa at Moshav Kfar Haim.