Cartoon Friday

Today is Friday. That means it's cartoon day from Israel.

This week's cartoon comments on two of Israel's most popular traditions, both of which are connected to Israel's Independence Day.

This year, Israel Independence Day was May 2nd. That meant Israelis expected two things, for sure: planes in the sky and the smell of burning meat on almost every street.

Each Independence Day, Israel's Air Force holds a spectacular air show that stretches all across the country. Also on Independence Day, Israelis show off their stange, private passion: barbecuing.

On Independence Day, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) does a national flyover between the hours of 10 am -3pm. The Air Force flies a series of planes over cites all across Israel. The total flight route adds up to more than 530 kilometers. 

This is a serious endeavor. It involves more than 40 cities. 

Here is the flyover schedule used this year. It comes from the website, funinjerusalem (warning: this list is for illustration only; the names are pretty much blurred): 






When you include the fact that cities near each designated flyover city can also see the planes, this list means that as many as 100 locations in Israel could see the flyover. I don't know population numbers, but I'd guess we are talking about close to half the country seeing or hearing the planes. 

Here are representative samples of what we saw:


mid-air refueling exhibition:

from: Baton Rouge Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation

F-16s

From: jerusalempost

F-35s

from: rt

Military air transport:

from: iaf

Here now, from youtube, is a video (4:02 long) of this year's 2017 flyover. I'm pretty sure this video was made over Tel Aviv. A seat on the beach would have been exciting. 

The day was hazy. Your view is partly blurred by the haze.

If you watch carefully, you might see something here. This year, a news report came out that, during one of the flyovers, the wings of two transport planes accidentally touched. As you watch this video, watch for what happens between the 1:39-1:45 mark. I think you'll see that touch (maybe) in the 1:39 -1:45 part. During these few seconds, there appears to be two incidents--the first seems to be a near-touch, clearly visible. The second seems to be the actual touch. I think that touch happens just as the two planes pass behind a tall crane on the shore--partially blocking the incident. See if you can make that judgment call.

The incident is being investigated. No one was injured.  

I also believe that, beginning with the 3:10 mark, you'll see some of Israel's new F-35 fighters. They were in the show. I believe they appear at this point. You have to wait until the 3:29 mark to see the distinctive F-35's tall, angled rear vertical fins, looking like a widened  'V'. 

The second Israeli tradition referred to in today's cartoon is the Israeli passion for barbecuing. In fact, this cartoon brings the brand-new F-35 together with Israel's somewhat insane barbecuing obsession, and gets this:

from: israelhayom