Being in an election season has all sorts of issues. One of those issues is the mess and noise of political campaigns. Parties hang signs all over the place declaring themselves to be the salvation of the city. They make parades to draw attention to themselves. They do all sorts of stuff to catch the eye of the voter.

Sometimes the signs being hung up are placed in legal places - private property, billboards approved for political signage, and the like. Sometimes, perhaps even more often, the signs are hung up wherever the campaign manager thinks he will best catch people's line of vision, even if the place is not legal for hanging signs.

Some people are disturbed by all this, but personally I like it. It gives a feeling of excitement in the air, and is part of the Israeli culture of election season.

In the area in which I live, every day a new slew of signs, for various parties and many for a candidate for mayor, are hung up along the barriers in front of the streets, between street lamps, and pretty much anywhere that would catch the eye. By now it is humorous, as I head out to work every day and see the signs from the night before have already been removed. Some of these candidates and parties must have money to burn to keep putting the signs up in places where they get taken down pretty quickly....

This morning I was on my way out of the neighborhood, a little later than usual, and I was driving behind the head of one of the political parties with signs up. Approaching the shopping area of RBS, there was a team of city employees removing the signs that were hung around the streets. Most of the signs were advertising the specific party of the guy in the car in front of me. He pulled over (in the middle of the street causing me a delay until I honked him to let me pass), and tried to persuade the city workers to leave his signs up. As I passed him, I could hear a snippet of the discussion, in which he asked why they were taking his signs down and they responded that they are not allowed to be there and they are taking all such signs down, not only his...