In Israel, MKs’ Timeline Cover Photos Reveal the Differences Between Right and Left

Nir Zeid collected the Facebook cover photos of twenty Israeli Knesset Members, and he has a theory about them: “Right-wing MKs put themselves, the flag and ‘holy stones’ in the cover photos; left-wingers show pictures of actual people” (Not completely accurate: 8 out of the 10 left-wing MKs included themselves in their cover photos, as did 9 out of 10 right-wing MKs; Shaul Mofaz of Kadima, a right-winger by political alliance, has people in his cover photo, which shows the “holy stones” of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem; After we pointed to this, Zeid responded: “Maybe it’s more accurate to say that left-wingers show themselves as a part of a group, rather than take center stage, like right-wingers. Left-wingers show a concrete Israel made up of real people, Right wingers show a more symbolic one: the Wailing Wall, the flag, and [Foreign Minister] Liberman shows what appears to be a local prison. Mofaz’s picture does showcase people, but it seems to be about something else: two soldiers next to the wailing wall says ‘I’m about defense'”..)

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“MKs, and their media consultants, know how important it is to have a social media ‘brand’, and what they choose to show says a lot about them”, Zeid told Room 404. “But when you compare those brands, what’s interesting is what they give away unintentionally. Right-wingers have an increasing need to showcase power, nationality, unity and official state symbols; left-wingers need to showcase diversity and a grassroots social and economic alternative. The right dresses up in the symbolic; the left in the practical”.

Zeid’s commentators have interesting observations, too. Neer Ilin says, “The right used cool colors; the left used warm ones.” Yishai Faran finds the right uses blue-and-white, colors of the Israeli flag, while the left favors “communist red”. Harel Tzadok finds the pictures don’t show a difference between right and left, but coalition and opposition: “if the politician is in opposition, he uses the ‘vote for me’ tactic and tries to show how he’s a man of the people. If he’s in office, he goes for the ‘you voted right’ tactic and tries to amp up his political persona.” Amit Amely writes, “The funniest is Moshe Ya’alon, with a picture of himself looking at himself”. Yo Dawg.

– Ido Kenan

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