Money can buy you some kinda love

Arcadi Gaydamak. (Credit: Me, me, me.)

I have written about Arcadi Gaydamak, the Russian oligarch who is currently buying his way into Israeli politics, before. I also have to mention how ridiculously chuffed I am that a photo I took of him at a February press conference in Tel Aviv (above) has been used to illustrate three different articles about him. This one is a political analysis that summarizes all the allegedly scummy acts of which he is allegedly guilty – e.g., illegal arms dealing and money laundering. Recently, Yedioth Ahronoth published an article about Gaydamak’s alleged involvement in a Khazakhstan uranium plant (the article was in Hebrew only, but Haaretz mentions it here).

I guess I’ve made it pretty clear that I find the Gaydamak deeply offensive. Rather than launching into a boring tirade/series of unoriginal observations on megalomaniacs and the people that love them, I will relate a couple of minor, but telling, anecdotes.

Anecdote #1:

I first saw Mr. G. up close and personal at his annual New Year’s Eve party, at the Tel Aviv Hilton.

Gaydamak at his New Year's party
Gaydamak (The Godfather), surrounded by sycophants at his New Year’s bash.

I think his rather sweet assistant put me on the guest list as an apology for being unable to convince his spokesman, Yossi Milstein, to give me an interview – despite my repeated requests, over several weeks. So I rubbed shoulders with a bizarre assortment of guests, ranging from ultra-Orthodox sycophants to ambitious professional girlfriend types, with some minor celebs and run-of-the-mill rich people thrown in for variety (if I were a nob I’d call them parvenu, but since I’m a mere snob I’ll call them tres vulgar, dah-ling).

Gaydamak groupies

I wonder how it feels to host a party and invite a bunch of people you don’t know and/or for whom you have complete contempt.

Maybe a bit depressing?

The rabbi, his Fillipino caregiver, and the blonde.

Rita sang. Bibi came.

Rita
Rita! Singing for the Big G.

I made the happy discovery that oligarchs can afford to offer an open bar with unlimited quantities of Johnnie Walker Blue, which helped take the edge off the horror a bit. The JWB is probably the reason I couldn’t stop giggling when the Gaydamak mounted the podium to give a speech in Hebrew. Which he read, haltingly, from a text that was clearly written phonetically in Cyrillic.

Reading the speech.

Anecdote # 2

Fast forward a few weeks. Gaydamak calls a press conference, which was held at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv. The cookies, fruit and beverages laid out for the media were all consumed by the time he showed up, more than 45 minutes late, to announce that he had formed a new social movement called Social Justice. Raviv Drucker, one of my favourite Israeli journalists, prefaced his question for Channel 10 news by scolding Gaydamak for keeping us waiting for 45 minutes (gotta love that man).

Raviv Drucker, telling Gaydamak off for keeping us waiting.

At one point, in response to another question, Gaydamak claimed that he did speak Khee-broo, but that he preferred to speak English “because English is the Gaydamak trademark.”

Shooting Gaydamak.

I approached the fabled Yossi Milstein, introduced myself, and explained that I had been trying for several months to obtain an interview with his boss for a major European newspaper. Milstein had never heard of it. The newspaper’s bureau chief joined us and introduced himself in English, and added that his editor was very eager to publish a profile of Mr. Gaydamak. Milstein looked at him blankly and asked me in Hebrew to translate what my colleague had said; it turned out that the oligarch’s chief adviser in Israel did not speak more than two words of English. I explained that the European newspaper had about 2 million readers per day. Milstein stroked his chin meditatively and told me to call him the following day on his mobile to set a date for the interview.

So I called the next day, at the appointed time, and Milstein said that he would not grant me an interview after all. Confused, I asked, “But why not?” His answer: “Because I changed my mind.” End of conversation. I do recommend this profile of Mr. Milstein, which was published a few months ago in Haaretz.

A couple of months ago, Pelephone, one of Israel’s three mobile service providers, released a television commercial that starred Gaydamak. The first time I saw it, my jaw dropped.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=9vB0WYdp2eA&feature=related]

In the boardroom scene, Gaydamak says, “I’m not buying! I’m sick of it! No more suits!” Then, as he’s striding along the corridor, he says, “All the time. Buying, buying, buying. Khalas! (enough!). No more! (in Russian). Revolution! Enough with capitalism!” As he strips down to the clothes typically worn by kibbutz farmers, the Red Army Chorus music starts and he sings, accompanied by the chorus, “From today, from today, we’re not buying anything, not conglomerates, not buildings, zero, gurnicht (Yiddish for nothing), nothing.” Then the voice over explains: If you sign up for a 36-month contract with Pelephone, you don’t have to buy a mobile phone – you will be given one for free.

In the clip below, the Gaydamak addresses a group of Knesset members – it’ll also give you a taste of what passes for civilized behaviour at the Knesset (a.k.a. the national circus). The bald guy with glasses sitting directly behind the suntanned G., wearing a white open-necked shirt under a black jacket, is Yossi Milstein.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGPmgu7A1lI&feature=related]

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27 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

And I’ve been trying to convince people that Danish politics is entertaining…

Anyway, now I have two reasons to be happy that FC København beat Beitar Jerusalem in the CL qualifying round.

1. jacobchristensen
on November 22nd, 2007 at 4:04 am
I Love (capital L) Gaydamak
I Love Beitar…. so probably that’s why

2. tsedek
on November 22nd, 2007 at 11:07 am
You’ve just ruined my morning… I never saw the clip from the Knesset clip (although I heard about Gaydamak’s “salary” comments in the news). Now that I’ve seen it I feel somewhat nauseous.

As for Milstein. Well, that goes beyond nausea. Every Israeli knows the “Milstein type”. We met them in the army, we see them on the road, we occasionally need to actually speak with them. When I encounter them, I can’t help but wonder whether I want my children to grow up in a country run by the Milsteins and their patrons.

P.S. – If you are Drucker’s friend, can you ask him a question that’s been bugging me for years. Why on earth didn’t he give his book about Barak (“Harakiri”) to someone who can write Hebrew properly to review before publishing it? It’s a good book, but the Hebrew syntax and grammar make it a very painful read.

3. Sharvul
on November 22nd, 2007 at 11:07 am
very interesting post. we have a similar type – Mauricio Macri – taking over as mayor of the city here in a few days, a position he hopes will springboard him to the Presidency

4. Eamonn McDonagh
on November 22nd, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Constipated Rita! I missed her!

5. m.bee
on November 22nd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Rita sang? Meh, pretty much par for the course. But Bibi came? Wow. *that* must have made for an exciting New Years eve.

(Please pardon my disgracefully vulgar sense of humour… no offence meant…)

6. Trollmamma
on November 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Oh, I miss Israeli politics/entertainment – Barcelona does not quite cut it.

7. godlessjew
on November 22nd, 2007 at 8:41 pm
and I forgot to mention this film

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429727/

8. eamonnmcdonagh
on November 23rd, 2007 at 12:05 am
My Thanksgiving Day gratitude list includes the work you do with passion and integrity, and that you are independent. No hired pawn or mouthpiece of any special interest group. Your own special interest group — reality — suits my taste in news sources.

You also send me to my MacBook Dashboard dictionary: nob is the secret (no more) word of today.

9. tamar
on November 23rd, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Gaydamak is a piece of work.

10. Jack
on November 23rd, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I remember one rich elderly friend of mine telling me that money can’t buy you love, but it sure puts you in a great bargaining position.

11. Joanne
on November 23rd, 2007 at 11:45 pm
btw, it is NOT about money can buy you love, but to who do you want to dedicate your money.

I think gaydamak is right, he at least contributes it (his money) to causes I find very worthwhile and often because of the superficial ‘politics’ overlooked, and thus – whether ‘morally’ explanable or not – I support him. Totally, fully. For the full 100%.

Ethical talk looks nice, but actually perpetrating to those layers of population that never get into the attention because of their behavior that is not to the ‘western standard’ – and not caring what those people who think they stand on moral highgrounds have to say about it, is in my opinion laudable. I compliment him – again, and again.

12. tsedek
on November 24th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Lisa, this is so depressing. There was always that sleazy side, but now that sleaze is wealthier than ever and oozing all over.

Ugh.

13. lisoosh
on November 24th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Gaydamak and his claqueurs irk me something horrid. I’m pleased I’m not the only one who sees through him.

14. nominally challenged
on November 25th, 2007 at 2:36 am
No, NC. You’re definitely not the only one who sees through him. While I do think he is to be commended for helping Israeli citizens in times of need, especially since the government either isn’t able or isn’t willing, his motives are quite transparent. It sickens me to watch everybody accept this guy as Israel’s newest Robin Hood, as though his intentions were pure.

I hate the way that so many people are so willing to overlook his faults, his past (and present) actions. I hate the way that this man who barely speaks Hebrew is buying up the country and trying to get a piece of all popular culture (whether it’s by purchasing Beitar Jerusalem or his failed acquisition of Tiv Taam – and thank God that failed). If this man is voted into office, it will truly be a sign of how far downhill our society has gone.

15. Liza
on November 25th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Well I don’t think so.. Right now we have politicians that do exactly the same thing but only for their protectionairs “upper class” circle.
So, although you might think that he is wrong, he is MOST CERTAINLY NOT using another method – only a different target audience. Which is good. Which is very, very good!

16. tsedek
on November 26th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I share all you feelings on the subject (or object), Lisa. Unfortunately, that mention of free JW Blue changed my outlook

Nah, not really. A regular gangster, and I am not sure what is more horrible – his Hebrew or his English. Strangely, I have never heard him speaking Russian. Nor do I desire to…

17. SnoopyTheGoon
on November 26th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
wonderful bashing thread this has become.
as if the rest of the politicians are no crooks.
very shortsighted all this bashing.

18. tsedek
on November 27th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Tsedek, I don’t think anyone is “bashing” Gaydamak. The man is simply a revolting character. He is wanted in France on criminal charges related to illegal arms dealing and money laundering on a massive scale. He moved to Israel and acquired citizenship under the Law of Return not because he is an idealist, but because he knows that Israeli rarely extradites its citizens to face criminal charges abroad.

And yet he has the nerve to tell Israeli politicians that *they* are corrupt?

He does not care about Israel, or about helping poor people to live a better life. He cares about consolidating his own power. He gives money that he can afford to give, in order to achieve popularity. If donating money were not an effective means of gaining power, he would not give it. He is not giving it out of the goodness of his heart. He is an opportunist.

Sure, there is lots of corruption in Israeli politics. But there is no Israeli politician who is corrupt on such a grand scale as Gaydamak. And for him to sit in front of Shelly Yachimovich and accuse her of being in politics only for the salary is really revolting. Furthermore, the fact that Gaydamak can gain influence in politics without being part of the democratic system is very dangerous.

Gaydamak is currently allied with Bibi Netanyahu. If Bibi becomes prime minister, Gaydamak will have direct access to the highest echelons of power in Israel. What do you think he will do with that influence?

19. lisagoldman
on November 27th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I am not afraid of that Lisa. I am far more afraid of Olmert and the ‘old clique’ with money that are manipulating this country while they look out for ‘their own’ first.
He might be a crook in France, but the crooks here in Israel are multiple. This country has a history of crooks in government. Nobody, perfectly nobody except for Menachem Begin, is excluded.

So, here comes a crook who builds his way into power with thinking about the right people and he is all of a sudden denegraded as ‘dangerous’?

So what if his speech or looks are ‘suspicious’? I think he has catched on to the new trend that ‘our old’ politicians seem to want to avoid: ‘the people’ should profit from their way to the ‘top’ and not that club of elites that makes me nauseous.

“Lots of corruption” – you know, I think, like I do that there are many ‘legal ways’ to get rich on our backs and all of them are being played on us – now it’s being played openly and the target audience is ‘us’ (at least, I count myself under them) the ones that are too far from the plate of ‘protection’.

The I scratch your back if you scratch mine politics should one time come to an end, and I think he is the only that can do it.

20. tsedek
on November 27th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Tsedek -

“The people” have not benefited from Gaydamak’s money. They have received a few crumbs, that is all. Three days in a tent camp in Tel Aviv might be a fun adventure for some people from Sderot, but in the end they had to go home and the Qassams are still falling. Meanwhile, Gaydamak received some more publicity.

Cronyism is a problem in all political systems. It is up to the people to control it, via intelligent voting and direct involvement in the political system. Sitting back and cheering for a megalomaniac like Gaydamak, who makes populist statements and throws a few crumbs at the people who feel neglected and disenfranchised, is just another manifestation of the apathy that is one of the greatest threats facing Israeli society.

Gaydamak is wanted by Interpol for gunrunning to Angola, and for money laundering. You say that foreign crimes don’t bother you. Well, he is also under investigation by the Israeli police for money laundering.

I am surprised that you are not troubled by the idea of a criminal buying his way into Israeli politics simply in order to consolidate his personal power. I do not see any evidence to support the claim that he has helped anyone in Israel except for himself.

But seriously, if you do not think it’s problematic that a man who is wanted by Interpol, and who is the subject of a police investigation in Israel, might one day be a member of the government, then I guess we will just don’t have much to talk about.

After all, you say you are against Olmert and his friends because they are corrupt. Bibi is also not exactly free of the taint of corruption, and Bibi is backed by Gaydamak. Why would you want to replace one corrupt politician with another? Surely the correct approach is to fight all corruption – not substitute one type for another.

21. lisagoldman
on November 27th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Of course, Lisa. How much can a private person do (3 days in a camp for the people of Sderot) when the whole of the government isn’t doing anything at all? He is no institutionalized entity, but just a man with money. Be it crumbs or otherwise, it IS HIS money and he doesn’t have to do it. He could follow up at the end of the row only paying that money to criticise the government, like all left and right wing parties in our country are doing.

I don’t think it’s apathy that those people are experiencing. On the contrary – I would say – they aren’t cheering him for nothing: there finally is a crook who doesn’t spent his money on smoothing the elites to let him into their society – but faces ‘the’ peope face on.

I do not think he is a “problem in all political systems”. He would be, if those political systems weren’t corrupt from the root themselves – but since they are, he is the next best option.

Sure he is under investigation by the Israeli police for whatever. If you pay attention to the last 20-30 years of politics in our country you will find out that the police hold criminal ‘files’ against about every prime-minister or potential influential political force here. That started with Bibi and his wife who was suspected of wearing a broche that she had obtained “illegally” (a gift from whoever) worth one-and-a-half=dollar going through Eli Ishaiy (of Shas) having run down his sister in law in NYC because Shas became too close to having influence and all through the rest of our “political scene” – whoever got influential. It is a very, VERY, clear pattern one can recognize.

What “personal power”? Did Olmert offer of his personal wealth any relief to the Northerners while being under fire? To the people of Sderot to have some relief from the qassams? Nope. He -and his generals- buy more shares (or sells them) an hour before a war starts so his bank account grows. Politics is ALL about personal power – the crutch is who benefits from this power. You actually see someone giving up these egocentric trips ever when he gets ‘into’ the political scene? Nobody does. (Except Menachan Begin) So why are people falling over him? Because he supports the layer of population that isn’t considered ‘cultural’ by our forced standards?

ut seriously, if you do not think it’s problematic that a man who is wanted by Interpol, and who is the subject of a police investigation in Israel, might one day be a member of the government, then I guess we will just don’t have much to talk about.

Sharon was accused of being indirectly responsible for a massacre and he became prime-minister. Why do you attack Gaydamak?

Surely the correct approach is to fight all corruption – not substitute one type for another.

This is not meant to insult you (really!!!) but having been in this country over 30 years and into politics ‘from the other side’ just as long, I honestly think you are naive (sorry *blush* )
As soon as the 18 families financially (and I mean ‘bit time’) controlling this country lose their control I join your quest. Until then I believe fire has to be fought with fire, because as you know water is short in our region.

22. tsedek
on November 28th, 2007 at 2:02 am
‘bit time’

should be ‘biG time’

23. tsedek
on November 28th, 2007 at 2:06 am
Okay, Tsedek. I think we are speaking in parallel lines so I’ll let you have the last word on the matter.

24. lisagoldman
on November 28th, 2007 at 2:31 am
Tsedek,

I think that Lisa is “attacking” Gaydamak because this article is about Gaydamak. It’s not about Sharon or Olmert or any other politician. If one were to write about all the crooked politicians we’ve had in this country, I think the writer’s computer would die before the writing was finished, and a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome would develop.

You call Lisa naive for her beliefs on this subject. Frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with wanting to fight all corruption, as opposed to wholeheartedly supporting someone when you know they are corrupt, just because a different set of people are supposedly benefiting from that corruption. It’s a sad fact of life here that so many of the people in power are corrupt, and the thought of voting for or supporting any of them is terribly depressing. Come election time, I’ll probably vote for one of the smaller parties, because I believe it’s important to exercise my right to vote. I will feel better voting for a party that I believe in, even if they don’t make it over the threshold, than I would voting for someone who I know is corrupt. I considered that during the last elections, and my heart was so heavy that I changed my mind, something I didn’t regret. The corrupt politicians still gained power, but my conscience was clear, knowing that I didn’t vote to put them there.

Oh, and Gaydamak is “spending his money on smoothing the elites to let him into their society”. Why do you think he throws these extravagant New Year’s Eve parties every year, inviting a virtual who’s who from all sectors of Israel’s upper crust, from politicians to models to rabbis to actors, and so on? He’s working it from all angles, trying to buy his way in to the elite circles while at the same time trying to buy the affections of certain sectors of regular society, and he’s using the same methods for both – throwing out crumbs that he believes will tantalize and reel them in. He’s trying to buy us all, and sadly, there are far too many people who are perfectly willing to allow themselves to be bought this way.

When you look at many of the other corrupt politicians we have, at least you can say that most of them have somehow worked their way up through the ranks, whether it be through the military, starting off as low-ranking politicians, parliamentary aides, through academia, through the Histadrut, etc. These paths don’t make them any less corrupt, but it is certainly more of a palatable route for me than Gaydamak’s path of transparently trying to buy his way straight to the top, without even bothering to pay his dues or master the local language on the way. Also, these people didn’t enter the world of politics already having such a wide array of allegations against them.

And you know what? I thought it was great that he created the tent camp during the war last summer, and great that he has tried to take the pressure off the citizens of Sderot for a bit, but as Lisa says, these are just crumbs. I would probably be more impressed if he did something like create jobs in the peripheral areas, donate money to hospitals in these same areas, etc, acts that would make a difference in the longterm, and acts that aren’t as showy as what he’s done until now.

I think it says a great deal about our society when so many people are perfectly willing to turn a blind eye when so much is stacked against him. I’m not going to cheer for a crook just because of a few populist acts. Gaydamak is not Robin Hood, and I refuse to treat him as though he was.

25. Liza
on November 28th, 2007 at 10:59 am
*_*

that’s a denegrading attitude to end a ‘discussion’.

wow. . .

you think I post reactions here to have ‘the last word’?

26. tsedek
on November 28th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Tsedek, you misinterpret me: I’m not ending the discussion. I just having nothing to add to what I already wrote in this thread.

27. lisagoldman
on November 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm