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Dear Czech friends,

It's been a while since I left our beautiful country to pursue a political career in Israel. This is just a message to you to check in, say hi, to remind you that I haven't forgotten you and the country of my ebirth (and I hope you haven't forgotten me), and to give those who might be interested a little update on my elife in Israel.

Since leaving I have continued to monitor developments in Czech Republic and I have opened up a Q1 weapons company - so keeping in touch with my homeland. But I decided to move to Israel for a number of reasons. 1st – after 2 terms as President, it was time for me to move aside and let new talent rise up to lead our country (which was why I was disappointed that my successor was a former President). 2nd - as an IRL Jew I wanted to be involved in Israeli politics - whilst in Czech Republic I had also been investing in Israel and have my own publication there. Together with Radim, we had worked to build Czech-Israeli friendship including a symbolic Congress donation to Israel after she had regained her freedom. But ultimately I wanted to spend some time there as a citizen.

Now I am in Israel, I've managed to cause quite a stir. More than I had intended to! I set off good enough - got elected to Congress and started helping them by reviewing their draft constitution and managing a squad in the Israeli Defence Forces. But then there was a sudden announcement of a secret MPP deal with our former oppressors Turkey and a subsequent dropping of our long-time allies the Greeks. This hit a nerve for a lot of people – yet another example of a small clique running the country, making important decisions without seeing the need for a substantial debate in the country. Don’t get me wrong – this clique led by Sadeh Badeh has served the country well. They had delivered strong leadership and command of the economy in the early days after liberation – just what was needed to get the country up and running and successful. But they had grown intolerant of dissent an had developed an unhealthy disregard/disrespect for the views of the citizenry. I therefore decided to stand up and campaign to be President of the Israeli Workers Party - the largest party in Israel – and start bringing the voice of the people back into the important decisions that affect our country.

Well that was the beginning of the storm! I campaigned that in order to develop as a party, the IWP needed to involve its members more - in how policy is set, in who we select as candidate. To say that I rocked the boat would be an understatement! I won the PP elections by a massive margin and in the process angered some significant people in Israel, including Sadeh Badeh and the president.

Riding high, but now carrying the twin weights of expectations for change and anger at my attack on the status quo, I began to deliver on my pledges. First up I took the IWP manifesto - which still talked about recovering the rest of our regions - and proposed an update to members. Then I set up a committee so that I had an easy way in which to consult members on important decisions for the party. Then I asked a member of the party to take nominations for our candidate for President and asked the committee to consider the proposed list. That's when I came unstuck...

Unbeknownst to me, the citizen I put in charge of preparing a list of candidates, also fancied himself as a Presidential contender, and started vetting the candidates who proposed themselves and trying to negotiate private deals with them. For the members of the IWP whose cosy little club had been threatened by what others dubbed my 'democratisation ' of the IWP this was the last straw and they hit out. By the time I was made aware of what was going on and started taking steps to clarify that I was not behind the actions of this citizen, accusation had already begun to fly. I was really shutting the proverbial stable door after the horse had bolted! Certain individuals riled by this perceived usurpation of their power were on the war path and I was right in the centre of their sights!

I could not help but feel that they were also cynically using the actions of this citizen as a rallying call to undermine my agenda. They attacked me in savage terms, or example the President declared “Sadeh was all but spit on by the IWP, Franz Kafka, and its laughable little council” and “People like Franz Kafka come in and “revolutionize” the most united party in the country and destroy a system which was working perfectly fine and succeed in doing nothing undoing both things”. One by one ex-Presidents put themselves up for election basically saying "vote for me or you disrespect and spit on my legacy” and then promptly dropping their candidature. A most spectacular and shocking sight – particularly as all I did was ask a committee for their view on the candidates.

And now we come to a crunch-point election. The IWP has a candidate selected by the committee –and I think he’s a good choice – experienced, conciliatory, a unifier. There are 4 other candidates up for election and this is a divided country and a divided people... and perhaps all because of me.

Well I can assure you this was not what I wanted to happen. And to be fair to me, I think all I did was lift the lid off the can of worms that is Israel and give the voiceless and frustrated masses a chance to express their disenchantment. Sadly the leadership were unable to accept gradual change and instead have opted for outright confrontation to change - which has sadly ended in a rapid demise of their power and sharply divided opinions in this country.

Anyway - we'll see what happens next, and I’ll keep those of you who are interested updated. I'm staying in Israel for now no matter what happens, and whichever candidate prevails. I'm also getting plenty of experience in the armed forces here - I'm now a member of an elite unit and have reached the rank of General.

I hope all is well in Czech Republic. I miss you all over there. And no matter how hectic your politics might be - I hope my story assures you it's even messier and crazier elsewhere!


Franz Kafka