It used to be said that all was fair in love and war. Not any more, in either love or war.
Today the emphasis is sex, which we are enlightened enough to know is not always the same as love.
It began on last evening's news, with a report that the former brother-in-law of Haim Ramon had hired a firm of private investigators to reveal that the woman who accused Ramon of an improper kiss was something other than how she presented herself.
The timing was strange. Ramon has been convicted of sexual harassment, served his time in a public service job, and was at least partly refurbished by an appointment as government minister.
Not only did the former brother-in-law's effort seem superfluous, it did not work. The intended target of the investigation latched on to the fact that she was being harassed yet again. She reported it to the justice ministry, and produced a day of embarrassment for the private investigators, Ramon's former brother-in-law, and Ramon himself. It is too early to know if the minister will be unrefurbished. There are challenges claiming that his ministerial appointment was improper.
The next chapter appeared this morning in the weekly book review supplement of Ha'aretz. The lead review, on page one, is of a woman's book arguing that sex over 60 still has its merits. The cartoon that accompanied the review was explicit, even if the body portrayed was not of museum quality.
Great for us old folks. But there is a worrisome follow-up.
Early morning radio reported that yet another Member of Knesset was being accused of sexual harassment. By 10 AM his identity was public: a member of the Pensioners' Party. By 2 PM his accuser was on radio. She sounded like someone who, as reported, was an activist in the Pensioner's Party. She accused the MK, among other things, of telling her that she has a nice ass.
We are not finished.
A mid-afternoon headline dealt with the latest claim being made to the Supreme Court, as part of its consideration of the plea bargain that did not include the weightiest charges against former President Moshe Katzav. Police records indicate that while questioning him, Katzav denied telephoning to one of his accusers, who had worked for him in the presidential mansion. Alas, records show that he phoned her 689 times, many of them after midnight.
Dare I finish this report? It is not yet time for the evening news.
There are also reports of impending war: Syria is strengthening its forces opposite the Golan Heights, and its spokesman is ridiculing Israel's posture with respect to peace talks. Just a month ago the government collected our gas masks, in order to clean them and update the medications in each kit. Now the word is that there are not enough gas masks ready for distribution.
The latest prediction of Iranian nuclear weapons is 2009. United Nations officials want Israel to turn over to it a bit of land that Israel has occupied since 1967, even before experts figure out if the area is part of Lebanon or Syria. Hezbollah is said to have more missiles than prior to last year's war. There is still no word that the two Israeli soldiers missing in Lebanon are even alive, despite last year's truce agreement requiring their release. There has been another rain of rockets and mortars on southern Israel.
Hearing about sex is more fun, even if occasionally gruesome.