Public Speaking
"I'll speak just long enough for people to understand what
I'm talking about, but my speech won't be so long that they
will fall asleep on me in the middle." (New U.S. President
George W. Bush, in his first national address on his
economic policy.)
Math
"It was just a 3 percent error. We erred by 3 percent on
Barak, and another 3 percent on Sharon." (Statistician Dr.
Mina Tzemach, explaining the 6 percent error in the sample,
which showed a gap of 19 percent between Barak and Sharon,
in contrast with the actual results of a 25 percent gap.)
Optical Illusions
"What you can see from there, you can't see from here."
(Reuven Rivlin, explaining why Sharon forgot his past pledge
as a member of the opposition to reduce the number of
government ministers down to 18.)
Optimal Weight
"There are more moshav members in the Central Region than
the number of moshavnikim who voted for Barak in the last
elections." (Yoram Marziano, Labor Party strongman in Lod,
explaining the importance of the selection of the Minister
of Agriculture.)
Vested Interest
"It's very simple: the question is whether we will
investigate you, or you will investigate us." (Prime
Minister Sharon explaining to Barak why he insisted that the
internal security portfolio must be in the hands of the
Likud.)
Secular Dream
"One of the big dreams of the devoted secular public is that
the day will come when the general chareidi public in Israel
will enter the work force, rather than just generating more
Torah scholars." (Secular reader in letter to the editor of
Globes.)
Permanently Temporary
"Nothing is more permanent than that which is temporary."
(Meretz representatives appealing to the High Court against
legislating a temporary measure in the matter of an
arrangement to defer drafting yeshiva students.)
Education Hour
"We are asking the High Court to put the Knesset back on
track." (Naomi Chazan explaining the basis for the above
appeal.)
Still Hoping
"The battle over our independence continues." (Prime
Minister Sharon on the day marking the assassination of
Trumpeldor, defining the State of Israel's pre-independence
state in a slip of the tongue.)
