Super-rich Israelis no longer ashamed to flaunt their wealth

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Israel, despite socialist roots, now has a huge income gap. Displays of riches, such as a $2-million wedding and a 'Real Housewives'-style show, draw awe and contempt.

Israel's hottest new TV show may be making many viewers feel guilty. But they can't stop watching it.

It's a "Real Housewives" reality-based knockoff about six rich, materialistic women bouncing from personal training sessions in their mansions to Botox appointments to champagne-fueled shopping binges, dishing dirt about one another and generally reveling in their own fabulousness.

Hardly scandalous stuff to American TV viewers. But in the land of the kibbutz — a nation founded on egalitarian ideals, where lawmakers still wear jeans in the Knesset, or parliament, and the flaunting of wealth was once considered taboo — this unapologetic celebration of the lifestyles of the rich and Israeli is hitting a raw nerve.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-rich-20111210,0,7450485.story