Israbluff

Israbluff (in Hebrew: ישראבלוף) is an expression that describes the creation of fictions that come to circumvent a problem, especially those made by the State of Israel and its governmental branches or by one of its citizens. The expression is the portmanteau created by combining the word "Israel" with the word "bluff".

History

The phrase was coined by Yossi Banai in the sketch "The Messenger at the Bank" that he wrote for the HaGashash HaHiver Trio. The sketch was included in the trio's 1974 performance, "Offside Story," directed by Yossi Banai. The sketch takes place in a fictional bank called "Israbank," and features three characters: Baruch, who applies for the position of a bank messenger, the bank manager, and the bank manager's assistant. The manager and his assistant decide to hire Baruch, and so they negotiate Baruch's salary. Baruch's future employers agree to pay him the amount he requested, but immediately explain to him that this amount is gross, and that income tax, national insurance, and all sorts of mandatory payments will be deducted from it, so that two thousand Lira will leave him with barely 225.25 Lira. He does not agree and intends to leave, but they offer him to come to meet them, so that in addition to his net salary he will receive all kinds of fictitious benefits: a budget for buying professional literature (even though he cannot read), payment for maintaining a car (even though he runs errands by bicycle), and so on - he only needs to bring them a receipt stating that he incurred all those expenses. The candidate for the position sums up the negotiations with the words: "It's all like that, Yanu Israbluff." The background to the sketch was the distortions in the tax system in Israel in the 60's and 70's, which led to distortions in the wage system. The distortions in the tax system were addressed in the recommendations of the "Ben Shahar Committee", which were submitted and implemented in 1975. The sketch produced several additional expressions that became popular sayings, such as "Did you understand this, Baruch?"

Usage

"Israbluff" has become a common expression in Israel and is used in many contexts, always in a negative sense. In a ruling issued by the Supreme Court, Justice Elyakim Rubinstein called the Tel Aviv Municipality's conduct "Israbluff in the presence of the Torah" (along the lines of "a villain in the presence of the Torah" coined by Nachmanides). Politicians have also used the word in various contexts, including Avi Gabbay and many others.