Meet the ‘Real Housewives’ of Israel
Bravo’s “Real Housewives” series has spawned spinoffs in cities across the U.S., so perhaps it was only a matter of time before the phenomenon hit Israel. A Hebrew-language version of the show debuted last night on Israel’s Channel 10, where it is called simply “Me’usharot,” or “Rich” (and where it was ostensibly created independently from the American series).
Like its U.S. counterpart, the Israeli version follows the lives of some of the country’s richest women, who mostly spend their time shopping, talking smack about their friends and living lives of almost unimaginable extravagance. Depending on how generous you’re being, the series can be read as mocking or shamelessly celebrating the subjects’ materialism and vapidity — as well as their social climbing, plastic surgeries and general lack of self-awareness.
Based on early clips, the Israeli “Housewives” are less blonde and surgically altered than their American counterparts, though they’re no less out of touch. In this clip, one of the women, Etty, visits a street protest in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators have gathered to oppose rising living costs. In an unknowing tribute to Marie Antoinette, Etty — a resident of Savyon, one of Israel’s richest cities — shows her support by letting the protestors eat cake she made especially for the event. “I feel I’m connecting with the people,” she tells the camera, before returning to her gated home in her black Mercedes.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.