A Photograph of three small Cheese Bourekases ...
Bourekas: Now off the menu for the Israeli cabinet. Image via Wikipedia
Israel's top politicians are up in arms after the catering for cabinet
meetings was switched for healthy cuisine. Starting this week,
pastries and cakes were removed from the menu at daily conferences:
Government ministers were shocked last Sunday to discover that
their usual cabinet meeting breakfast of burekas puff pastries,
rugelach and croissants was replaced with granola, vegetables and
yogurts. Juices were also replaced for water.
The person responsible for the new diet, which caused an uproar
among the ministers, is Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, who said he got
the idea from Yona Bar-Tal, the President's Residence's deputy
director-general.
"I reached the conclusion that the ministers should have a healthy
menu with as little dough and fat as possible. Currently they are
accustomed to get burekas puff pastries, sandwiches and cakes.
"We did away with juices and replaced them with water. We
completely removed the burekas, rugelach and cakes. We put in yogurts
with granola, fruits, vegetables, whole wheat bread, low-fat cheeses
and other healthy foods," he said.
(Note: The East Coasters among us know what rugelach is — sugar filled
deliciousness. Burekas are Ottoman-descended puff pastries stuffed
with cheese or savories that came to the country via Turkish Jews. For
obvious reasons, Israelis are not generally big fans of bacon and ham
at breakfast)
All this would just be a funny quirk story if not for the fact that
most of Israel's Hebrew-language dailies ran a paper on the story
today. That's because several cabinet members essentially used the
change of menus as an excuse to troll for votes:
Several ministers welcomed the change for obvious health
considerations. Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon noted, "Finally we
have a cabinet secretary who recognizes the true value of Israeli
agriculture and the land of milk and honey."
The eating habits of politicians are fair scrutiny for the Israeli
media. Former Israeli Prime Minister and suspected war criminal Ariel
Sharon suffered a massive stroke in 2006 that left him in a
semi-vegetative state. His legendary love of unhealthy food is
believed to have been a contributing factor.