CAIRO - Leisha', a young Israeli man about to be interviewed for a job with Mossad (Israeli intelligence service), walks past a notice on the wall saying ‘Examination Committee' and enters a room, where three men are sitting on the far side of a rectangular table. "What's your name? And why do you want to work for Mossad?" asks one of the examiners. "My name is Leisha'. I've come here because I can't find a job," he says. The three examiners look at him and whisper: "He pretends that he's stupid, but in fact he's very intelligent. Hmmm…" Then they ask him a question which will tell them whether he's able to deal with the enemy. "If a beautiful woman working for the enemy asked you for the password for your computer, on which you stored information vital for national security, what would you do?" "I would tell her I haven't got a computer and I don't even know how to use one," replies Leisha'. "Congratulations. You've become a member of Mossad!" say the examiners. The above is a scene from a sketch in the Egyptian comic serial Rob' Meshakel, being aired every day on Egypt's official TV during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. This sketch, starring Khaled Eleish, Mohamed Alieeddin and Mona Hala, relates the story of an Israeli called Leisha', who lives in an apartment in Israel with his wife and his miserly grandfather Sama'an. They are of Egyptian origin and love to listen to the songs of Egyptian legend Om Kolthoum and adore Egyptian films. They've even lived for some time in Egypt. Leisha' hasn't got a job; so one of his friends with wasta (connections) helps him apply to Mossad. This comic serial has stirred public outcry in Israel, because some of the sketches deal with Jewish figures like Leisha' in an ironic way. In a report aired on Channel Two on Israel Television, the Israelis accused the team who put the serial together of anti-Semitism as, according to the report, Arabs consider Israelis to be miserly and stupid. "Our purpose is not to ridicule the Israelis or to be anti-Semitic," Khaled Eleish, the actor who plays the stupid Leisha', told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. "It's only a bit of fun." Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The main features of the treaty were the mutual recognition of each country by the other, the cessation of the state of war that had existed since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the complete withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the rest of the Sinai Peninsula which Israel had occupied during the Six Day War in 1967. "When I portray an Israeli character as stupid or miserly, it doesn't mean at all that all Israelis are like that," argues Eleish, who's also an assistant producer. He added that the coming episodes in this serial, produced by Global Art Production and directed by Bassel Mubarak, would focus on Mossad itself, through the character of Leisha', "and how Israelis follow up everything relating to them. They will ask Leisha' to read Egyptian newspapers and take note of what problems they tackle.” "The heroes of the serial are Mossad, not the Jews," said Moustafa Bayoumi, the writer of the serial, which is being aired on Nile Comedy Channel at 12:30am and 4pm and on Melody Drama Channels at 1am and 6pm (Cairo time). "I want to say that Mossad are not superhuman. They're like any other intelligence agency," he told this newspaper. Bayoumi was surprised when the Israelis accused the makers of the show of anti-Semitism. "They're being oversensitive. They always say things like this and want to be considered like oppressed people. The serial is not for them, but the Egyptian viewers,” he said. “We want them to know that Israelis are like any other people: we're neither exalting them nor demeaning them. They're like anyone else. Some are good, some are bad," added Bayoumi, who also works as a journalist.
