The Blogs: Reflections on “Fortisakharof Day”

July 7th is a very important day for fans of Israeli music and the Israeli rock and punk scenes in particular. On this day, 72 years ago, Rami Fortis, known as “The Madman” for his on-stage enthusiasm, was born. Three years later, to the day, so was Berry Sakharof, the “Prince of Israeli Rock.” Fortis was born in Israel, while Sakharof immigrated from Turkey at the age of three. Both began their musical careers at a young age, and by the 80s, they were both members of Minimal Compact, one of the first Israeli acts to achieve global success, particularly in the European post-punk scene.

Following the disbandment of Minimal Compact in the late 80s due to visa issues with a planned U.S. tour, Fortis and Sakharof collaborated extensively in the 1990s, under the combined name “Fortisakharof,” beginning with the pioneering post-punk masterpiece that is the album 1900? While all of the songs on the album are excellent, including stand-outs like Never Ending Childhood, Sparks, and Blue Dream, today, the day of their shared birthday, three days after July 4th, American Independence Day, one song is of particular importance.

America, the first track of the album 1900? offers a biting, poignant, and ironic criticism of how Israeli society was infected with American style consumer culture in the early 1990s. Israel got its first McDonald’s in 1993, its first Pizza Hut in 1990, and its first Burger King in 1993 as well. Since the album was recorded in 1989 and released in 1990, one could even say that Fortis and Sakharof predicted these developments. However, as the song illustrates, this cultural change wasn’t just a matter of fast food.

Below are the song’s lyrics, with English translation:

הדוד סאם כוכב עליון, מוכר לי נשק ורובים

ויאטנם זה לא אצלם וגם אנחנו רחוקים

מיאמי נייס ודי נעים ולא זורקים שם אבנים

דיסנילנד וכוכבים. את הירח גם מוכרים

Uncle Sam, superstar, sells me weapons and guns

Vietnam is not in their backyard, and we too are far away

Miami is nice and quite pleasant and they don’t throw rocks there

Disneyland and stars

They would even sell the moon

יש גבול, אין גבול, הוליווד כבר לא זוכרת

איך ומה?

There is a limit, there is no limit, Hollywood no longer remembers

How and why?

כמה שירים אפשר לכתוב על אמריקה

עולים, יורדים, חוזרים, עולים לאמריקה

How many songs is it possible to write about America?

Immigrating (making Aliyah, or ascending, to Israel), Emigrating (literally translated as descending from Israel), Returning, Immigrating to America (literally translated as ascending to America)

הדוד סאם מביט אלי מתוך שטרות ירקרקים

נשיא שחקן סוחר סמים עושים ביחד עסקים

הכל אפשר אם משלמים, להיות אפילו אלוהים

עולם מושלם צבעים יפים ורק אנחנו עוד בוכים

Uncle Sam looks at me through green bills

President-actor and drug dealer, doing business together

Anything is possible if you pay, even to be G-d

Wonderful world, beautiful colors, and only we are still crying

In the first verse of the song, Fortis and Sakharof discuss several issues that are just as pertinent today, the reality of Israel’s conflicts and America’s involvement in them, the phenomenon of Israelis fleeing for greener pastures, and the excessive nature of consumer culture at the time. The opening line remains highly relevant, as despite the security risks, Israel remains dependent on American arms supplies, which could be shut off at any moment by a hostile American administration, as seen with Biden’s soft embargo. The line about Vietnam could just as easily be applied to Iran. Iran is far away from America, and poses far less of a threat to America than Israel in the short term.

While confronting Iran is highly critical for Israel’s security, it is viewed by Trump as just another Venezuela, an opportunity to overthrow an inconvenient regime quickly and easily. Once he saw the price that America would have to pay to finish the job, he backed out. The line on Miami is almost shockingly coincidental. While many at the time, during the First Intifada, were escaping rock throwing for South Florida, today, it is the seemingly never ending war and the promise of American glitz and glamor that has driven none other than Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s own son, to Miami. The verse concludes with an explicit criticism of America’s overly capitalist, wealth-centric culture, especially poignant coming off of the exuberant 1980s.

In the second verse, they highlight how Hollywood, and America by extension no longer remember limits, and care first and foremost about money. How and why?, they ask rhetorically.

In the third, they offer a mix of irony and poetic lyricism. They ask, in a song about America, how many songs is it possible to write about America?, criticizing the perceived obsession of Israelis with toxic American culture. Then, in the most poetic part of the song, they discuss “Olim,” immigrating to Israel, “Yoredim,” the oft-criticized phenomenon of leaving Israel, “Chozrim,” returning to Israel, and most prominently “Olim L’America,” literally ascending to Israel. This line has two meanings. First it describes how many leaving Israel for America viewed it not as an act of descent (Yeridah as in Yoredim), but instead as an act of ascent to the new promised land of America, where the promise is money and success. Not only does it reflect the concept of individual Israelis “ascending” to America, but that of Israeli society “ascending” to become more American.

Of course, by ascending, they truly mean descending. While Israel has certainly become more American in the past decades, it still retains a much more grounded, direct, and family oriented culture, even if money has become more central in Israeli culture. In Israel, you could be invited to a warm Shabbat dinner at a house with five kids where you could then be told very directly any number of remarks that an American would consider rude, but an Israeli would just consider honest. “Fortisakharof Day’ and the 4th of July serve as the perfect reminder of the need to protect Israel’s unique and beautiful culture.

In the fourth and final verse, Fortis and Sakharof discuss green bills to highlight America’s overemphasis on profit. Furthermore, they portray the lunacy of an actor becoming a President and doing business with drug dealers, referring of course to Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra affair. The last couple lines are the most poignant of them all. They excoriate the American notion that money buys happiness, and that you can be anything you want if you have enough money. To conclude the song, they encapsulate the notion of leaving Israel for greener pastures in America. Ironically, many studies have shown that, despite Israel’s lower average wages and seemingly constant conflict, Israelis are happier on average than Americans.

This time in early July, particularly this year, also reminds us of the need to secure Israel’s military independence from American aid. With the Democratic Party seemingly being taken over by forces hostile to Israel, as seen by recent primary victories for far-left candidates nationwide, and with the majority of young Republicans now opposing Israel, it is more clear than ever that Israel must end its dependence on American protection and weapons. From expanding the Israeli Navy to confront maritime threats like the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, to expanding our ground and air capabilities to confront the growing threat posed by Turkey, Israel has much to do from a defensive standpoint.

Overall, while America is, of course, a wonderful country, and a historically and currently powerful and valuable ally, Israel must look inwards to a greater extent, appreciating its own values-centric culture over American greed, and building its strength for the possibility of weakened or lost support from the United States. Israel and American Jews must also prepare for the eventuality of a mass Aliyah amidst surging antisemitism in the United States. In honor of America’s independence, Israel must secure its own.

I would like to wish a happy 72nd birthday to Rami Fortis and a happy 69th birthday to Berry Sakharof, two of Israel’s greats, and of course, a happy 250th to the United States of America, despite all of its foibles. Maybe someday, America will take a page out of Israel’s book, and become a more close-knit, honest, direct, happy, and family-oriented society.

The song America is linked below, and I encourage you to listen to it and other works by both artists.

https://youtu.be/rrkWpbST8pI?is=BtxgAKeC4jioWAGp