Tel Aviv is, in fact, the most politically liberal city in Israel and offers a sharp contrast to the spirit of religious conservatism that informs Jerusalem. It votes to the left and looks to Europe. Many inhabitants yearn for nothing more than to live the life of a hot Mediterranean city, to be, say, the Barcelona of the Middle East and forget the conflict a dozen miles away.
And to a large extent, they succeed.
And that's the trouble.
Two state solution?
We have it: state of Tel Aviv and the state of Jerusalem.
It's all in the head and a matter of belonging, identification, historical resonance vs. the 'here-and-now'.
See what I mean:
Having a drink nearby is Gadi Shalom, 38, who a few weeks ago left his rented apartment in the city center to move into one he bought in a nearby suburb. He had wanted to stay in the city, but prices were out of reach.
“I think people here would prefer to live in another country,” he said, trying to describe the demand to live here. “And living in Tel Aviv is the closet thing to living abroad.”
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