Mood Swings: In Israel, a Pandemic’s Pandemic

On Sunday, when the Olympic Games were finally over, Israelis were feeling good about themselves. It was—the media reported, armed with data—the best ever Olympics for Israel. That is, in seventy years. What makes it the best ever? Four medals, two of them gold medals. The last record was two medals, one gold and one bronze, in Athens in 2004. Moreover, this time the medals are in more prestigious sports. Israelis are used to medals in Judo (it was a disappointment this time), but In Tokyo, the gymnastics team was able to fight its way to the top. Artem Dolgopyat won gold in the men’s artistic gymnastics floor routine, and Linoy Ashram took the gold in the women’s rhythmic gymnastics competition (the Russian were highly upset about that win).

So Sunday was a day of celebration. But just a week earlier, the airwaves were filled with a chat about Israel’s miserable performance. Some analysts proposed that the team was poorly prepared, others suggested that the people in charge “take responsibility.” Athletes came close to winning in other sports. But close is not enough. Close—being number four—is failure. Making it—being number three—is success.

It took about a week and two medals to turn the Olympics from a lamented failure to a glorious success. When Israelis grumbled, they did it wholeheartedly. When they celebrated, they did it without a shred of self-mockery. The pendulum swung from misery to elation in no time. We are used to such things at sports (a second to the buzzer, your team is one behind, then a shot at the buzzer, and your team is one up). The trouble is that rather than sports being a respite from real life, they become a symbol of real life, or maybe, its source of inspiration.

Think about the pandemic, and take a look at this Gallup graph. Consider the sharp twists and turns. Are you optimistic? Yes. I mean, no. I mean, yes. I mean, no. In June, nine out of ten Americans thought that the Corona situation was “getting better.” In July, just four out of ten felt the same way. It is true that as the situation on the ground changes, one might expect the mood to change. And yet, we’ve been living with the pandemic for quite some time. We should know it is a tricky thing to handle; we should be somewhat cautious in our elation when we score a point, and not be completely devastated when we lose a point.

In Israel, the situation is somewhat similar. Not so long ago, Israel celebrated its great achievement in being the most vaccinated country on earth. Prime Minister Netanyahu, then still in power, declared victory, with more than a hint that his political rivals (many of them were publicly skeptical about his vaccination initiative) did not know what they were talking about. Then, a new government was formed, headed by a PM who literally wrote a book with the presumptuous title “How to Beat a Pandemic.” July was a cruel month for both these leaders, and for all who prematurely celebrated the end of the pandemic.

Netanyahu’s magic in bringing the vaccines and making Israel so advanced in distributing them still stands. And yet, the twenty percent of the population he neglected to vaccinate (those are people who refuse to take the shot, and were able to get away with it), suddenly feels much more significant than it did a few months ago. Prime Minister Bennett’s good advice to the previous government still stands, and yet, when he was handed the reigns he promptly discovered that giving advice is easier than implementing a coherent policy. Under his leadership, Israel is on its way to a possible fourth forced quarantine. The infighting within his government has begun to resemble the sad infighting within the previous government. His past statements—such as the one in which he explains that a quarantine is due to a “terrible managerial failure”—have come back to bite him.

What happened? How did it happen? The answer is mood swings. When there can only be “a scandal or a festival” (as a famous old Israeli song, under the apt name “No Dull Moment,” contends), there is no middle ground to be occupied by responsible leadership. Either the pandemic is over, and we are all free to do as we please (including the people who did not bother to get the vaccine), or the pandemic is spreading fast, and we have no choice other than to send everyone back home. Either the government is doing a great job, no questions asked,  or it is failing miserably and does not deserve any hearing.  

Headlines, political speeches, tweets, leaflets, protests and ads are all intended to grab our attention and hence tend to make the world seem more dire or auspicious than it really is.

Can we learn something from all of this? I think we can, and it is to moderate our tendency to respond with hype to all things. You want examples? Here’s one: No, on January 6th the U.S. was not on the verge of a coup. The events on Capitol Hill were serious and dramatic, but American democracy was not under threat. You want another example? No, PM Netanyahu was not the devil and PM Bennett isn’t a savior (the same is true for Trump and Biden). And another one: No, the pandemic is not the worst thing that ever happened to us. In fact, compared to many other events of the last 200 years, it ought to be considered a medium level disruption.

And here’s the last one: No, the headline you just read in the newspaper is probably not reason enough to become highly agitated. Remember that headlines, political speeches, tweets, leaflets, protests and ads are all intended to grab our attention and hence tend to make the world seem more dire or auspicious than it really is. So, we should manage our mood swings like a good government must manage a pandemic. We should acquire the gradually extinct ability to distinguish between a signal and an explosion.

Shmuel Rosner is an Israeli columnist, editor, and researcher. He is the editor of the research and data-journalism website themadad.com, and is the political editor of the Jewish Journal.