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News   Israel News

The magician

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did his latest trick, I was reminded of the classic “pull the tablecloth out without upsetting anything” Vaudeville favorite.

Dry Bones
Credit: Yaakov (DryBones) Kirschen.
Credit: Yaakov (DryBones) Kirschen.
(Aug. 9, 2023 / JNS)

When I was a kid (lo these many years ago), jugglers, tumblers, contortionists and acrobats astounded and amazed us with acts in what was then called Vaudeville.

Such shows are no longer around these days.

These days what we’ve got is politicians.

And when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu pulled off his latest trick, I was reminded of the classic “pull the tablecloth out without upsetting anything” Vaudeville favorite.

Benjamin Netanyahu Judicial Reform
Dry Bones
Dry Bones Dry Bones
Political cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., made aliyah to Israel in 1971 and began drawing “Dry Bones” in January 1973. The internationally syndicated, award-winning cartoons ran in The Jerusalem Post for 50 years. They were reprinted in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME and other mainstream media publications. The “Dry Bones” story has been covered by CBS, CNN and Forbes, among other outlets. He was a member of America’s National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society. Kirschen died at 87 on April 14, 2025.
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