Hopeful Israeli Political Candidate Confesses Recent Pot Use on National TV
December 28th 2014 on Israeli national television, a well respected Israeli political figure released that he had recently taken a puff or two of marijuana. Of course, had he been seen doing it in his homeland, without the proper medical paperwork to be doing so, he would been committing a crime. So viewing a conservative representative of Israel’s Home Party just blurt out a confession to the world may have beenshocking to some, but only if they haven’t been paying attention to Yinon Magal and his elevation in national politics. Until he stated his intent to run for political office last week, Magal served as the editor-in-chief for an Israeli news website called Walla.
During his reign at Walla, Magal often revealed his aid for marijuana use. In April of this year, Magal held a exceptionally controversial debate on Walla where a reporter allegedly rolled up a joint as they spoke, and then lit it up right on the air. Magal states that it wasn’t actual marijuana that got smoked down on the show, but still, he took down the video from the Walla website that very same day.
So just one day after stating his political endeavor to join the Knesset in Israel, the legislative branch of Israeli politics in charge for writing all laws and appointing the President and Prime Minister, Magal found himself being interviewed by Channel 2 newsman, Oded Ben-Ami who hoped to give the voters an detailed look at the candidate – and Magal did not disappoint.
Having stumbled gently into the debate, Ben-Ami casually asked Magal, “Have you smoked drugs?”
“Yes,” replied Magal without any hesitation
captivating, the reported pushed for more info, asking “Where was this?”
Magal gave the run around a bit, “In the past, you know, it happened.”
Not satisfied, Ben-Ami asked specifically when.
Boxed in, Magal would only say, “Pretty recently.”
Later in the interview, Magal took it a step further, joking with the reporter about a trip to India over ten years prior. When asked if he had ever done any “hard drugs”, Magal disregaured, “Don’t forget, I was in Goa 15 years ago. As you know, what happens in Goa, stays in Goa.”
Actually, what happens in Goa is a progressive psychedelic drug environment that has become identified with the location, leaving little disbelief as to what Magal was hinting towards.
Magal is a bit of a walking contradiction, politically, perhaps a sign of the altering demographics and opinions in Israel as a whole. A reliable supporter of marijuana use, Magal is also a true-blooded patriot who sees no danger in his country’s combative foreign policy in the region. He observes Shabbat, like a good Orthodox Jewish man, but refuses to don the traditional cap normally worn by those of the faith.
A former special forces commando and reporter for Israeli Army Radio, Magal has the full backing of the conservative Home Party, and is said to breeze through confirmation proceedings and join the Knesset after the elections in March 2015.
There he will partner up with at least 11 other Israeli lawmakers who, just within the past year or two, have admitted to smoking weed at some point in there life.
This reflects a crucial shift in Israeli public opinion about marijuana is just a few short years.
For example, leading up to the elections in January of 2013, a candidate named Yair Lapid constantly denied having ever experiencing the use of marijuana, which led to many of his former friends and colleagues calling him out amongst the public.
In one particularly entertaining account, a famous Israeli actress named Dafna Rechter told Israel’s Cannabis Magazine, “As a childhood friend of his, I can attest – he never smoked joints in his life…only bongs.”
On paper at least, Magal will be among the most traditional members of the Knesset which should be music to the ears of Israel’s marijuana supporters.
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