In 2010, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon proposed to start a course in etiquette for Knesset members traveling overseas on official business or hosting high-ranking guests in Israel. Given his extensive and varied service in the Foreign Ministry, Ayalon wanted to give Knesset members lessons in the language of diplomacy, including dress codes, table manners and tips for informal conversation. Most of all, he wanted to teach them how not to embarrass their hosts (or themselves). The reason for this initiative was a series of embarrassing incidents that Ayalon believed had resulted from a lack of appropriate education and from the informal Israeli style, known in local slang as, “neighborhood style.”
The media covered Ayalon's initiative extensively, but it never really took off. Almost seven years have since passed. Politicians have come and gone. As for political decorum and diplomatic comportment, bad behavior has broken new records. The most recent example, which can rightfully be called the “most embarrassing incident of all time,” was when Likud Knesset member Oren Hazan imposed himself on Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, to take a selfie.
Much has been said, and will yet be said, about the photo taken by the young Likud Knesset member, who rudely ignored the rules of protocol at the official welcome for Trump on May 22. The selfie went viral and was covered by media around the world. Hazan had scored another victory. By ignoring political decorum and protocol yet again, he earned himself endless interviews on local TV and websites. He used the opportunity to describe himself as the “Israeli Trump.”
Even when interviewers ridiculed Hazan, he remained self-confident (if not full of himself), claiming that Trump had cooperated with him, even if the president seemed stunned. Photos from the event show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grabbing Hazan by the arm in an attempt to prevent the incident. Yet Hazan merely deflected, arguing that the Prime Minister's Office invited him to the ceremony in the first place.
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