Shin Bet? No. Shin Blog!
The world of Israeli blogs just got a little weirder. Never mind that anyone who made aliyah has also made a blog (We just have so much to say about our journey that and our painful visits to bureaucratic offices). But, now Shin Bet- Israel’s version of the FBI- is blogging too. Shin Bet? No, Shin Blog!
When my co-blogger (and skinny friend) Becca, sent me a link to Prime Minister Olmert’s blog, I thought, that’s creepy. I mean it is not like he is sitting at Cafe Hillel, drinking the cheapest coffee he could find on the menu, and typing a post about his tough day on the job. In fact, it is more believable that the government probably hired a professional writer, who sits at Cafe Hillel, drinking the cheapest coffee on the menu, writing posts about Olmert’s tough day on the job.
But, forget Olmert and his lame attempt to be one of the cool kids (everyone cool has a blog– duh), now Shin Bet is trying to get in on the trend. While the organization says it is using the blog as a merger attempt to recruit techies, this blogger can’t help but wonder, “what the hell is going on?”
Lets get a few things straight. The Shin Bet bloggers are going to gossip about the workplace, preach about the great benefits and tells us how to apply for a job; but, they will never reveal their identities, secret security information or the truth so what is the point? It just all seems a little much for my taste. Can you really imagine a Shin Bet techie cracking top secret codes and then writing a blog about how neat it is to work underground?
I feel like I missed a report in the news about a new Blog Committee in the Knesset. Did you hear about the committee? It seems like their goal is to waste tax payers’ money and create lame blogs for each government sector. At this rate we can expect lame blogs from the Foreign Ministry, Education and the Pensioners (first they have to learn how to use the internet).
That’s a lot of cheap coffee.
As I too work for an “FBI” type of agency, I was able to get my hands on Shin Bet Agent ?’s blog. Here is a short excerpt from today’s post:
“Today I had coffee from the NIS 2 machine. Except when you work for Shin Bet, the coffee is only NIS 1. Cool huh? Think about it, you can have two coffees a day instead of one. That’s why I love this job. Also, sometimes they bring us the same meals as the Prime Minister. They taste awesome. We are supposed to be checking them for any trace of poison, but most of the time we don’t find anything and can take the plate home with us. Tell me what other job has benefits like these?”
The Big Felafel 
Oh those pensioners.. I can’t wait for them to write a juicy blog about which candidate wore the biggest glasses…
Who made that word up anyway? Pensioners… what happened to retirees?
It seems a teeny drop suspicious that the government is starting to censor blogs left and right only to start “writing” their own “blogs”….
P.S. it kinda feels funny to comment on my own blog…
| Posted 15 years, 2 months agoI was wondering who was going to pick this article up from Jpost.
No way this blog is going to be cool unless they put up some pictures of our agents drop kicking some doors or firebombing some lefties!
Do they hire people for that kind of thing?
| Posted 15 years, 2 months agoNo no no…”Shin Bet Behind the Scenes” kicking ass is way too predictable. I want to see things we would NEVER see: big, strong Shin Bet dudes knitting a sweater. Strong, bald Israeli men doing the can-can. Now THAT is exclusive access.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go kick some doors and write a blog about it.
Thanks, Big Felafel!
| Posted 15 years, 2 months agoBig bald men. Yes! Why are they all bald? It’s the same guy every time, too: Tall (6’4-6’5), fat in that muscular way (275 pounds, gut, huge arms, small neck), and anything but jolly.
Oh, by the way, this story made it to NPR (not The Felafel’s story, but some newspaper’s). Here’s the link. Not sure how long it’ll last, but you have to listen to the audio to hear them talk about it…
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88461835
You guys are on the front lines of blog coverage!
| Posted 15 years, 2 months ago