Ayelet Shaked in the ad from The New Right. Image by Screenshot

By Ari Feldman March 19, 2019

A new Israeli political ad from the conservative party The New Right has garnered laughs, scorn and confusion in both Israel and the U.S.

The satirical ad features Israeli Justice Minister Ayeley Shaked as the face of a perfume, “Fascism.” It features Shaked posing in slow motion, showing off the fragrance bottle, as taglines float across the screen: “Judicial reform,” “Separation of powers” and “Restraining the Supreme Court,” according to translations from Haaretz.

The ad closes with Shaked saying to the camera, “To me, it smells like democracy.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Shaked announced the ad on Twitter with a post saying, “A perfume the leftists will love.”

הבושם שהשמאלנים פחות יאהבו. pic.twitter.com/vaQCtkT4Cr

— איילת שקד ayelet shaked (@Ayelet__Shaked) March 18, 2019

The ad is apparently meant as a jab at leftist parties that accuse Shaked’s agenda of having fascist overtones. She has sought to limit the power of the judiciary branch, in part by calling for the removal of a panel that appoints judges, and giving that power to Israeli lawmakers. The ad suggests that what leftists call fascism, she calls democracy.

The ad, released two days before Purim, is the latest in a string of strange ads being pushed out ahead of Israeli elections on April 9.

It was met with no small amount of confusion from American observers, who noted that, to American audiences, the ad looks for all the world like Shaked is genuinely trying to sell “Fascism.” Or, as The New York Times had it, that Shaked was “indeed happy to bathe herself in eau d’autocrat.”

1) Apparently this is not a joke.

2) Ayelet Shaked is proudly a fascist & running for office on that fact

3) if it weren’t already clear, irony is dead. https://t.co/a3TqCU1KzD

— Lara Friedman? (@LaraFriedmanDC) March 18, 2019

For those wondering what this troll ad means in English: Shaked’s party wants to subordinate the Israeli judiciary to parliament. The left calls this fascism, and she is mocking them, saying that her policy is actually more democratic (since it puts parliament over the courts). https://t.co/101gjyoKut

— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 18, 2019

Observers have also noted that the ad may be an attention ploy: Shaked’s party is flagging in the polls, with the election just weeks away.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount