海角大神

The ad wars are on in Israel.

With the country鈥檚 parliamentary election set for March 17, a number of the parties in the running have released campaign ads that lean towards the snarky and satirical.

Exhibit A is Prime Minister Benjamin 鈥淏ibi鈥� Netanyahu, whose campaign videos have so far portrayed him and his conservative Likud Party as the only competent, adult leaders in a government full of children.

His latest ad, called 鈥淏ibi-Sitter,鈥� has Mr. Netanyahu surprising a young couple by knocking on their door and offering to baby-sit their kids. The couple is shocked at the prime minister鈥檚 suggestion, but Netanyahu says that it鈥檚 either him or his rivals: Tziporah 鈥淭zipi鈥� Livni, former justice minister and erstwhile Likud member, or Isaac Herzog, nickname 鈥淏uji,鈥� head of the center-left Labor party.

鈥淣o no no no,鈥� the parents protest.

鈥淏uji? Our children will have to take care of him!鈥� Dad says. The couple adds that Herzog would have given away their house and carpet before they got home 鈥� likely a reference to the Labor Party leader鈥檚 relatively soft stance on Israeli-Palestinian relations, according to Slate鈥檚 international affairs writer Joshua Keating.

As for Tzipi, who switched allegiances several times before aligning her centrist Hatnuah Party with Herzog鈥檚 Labor: 鈥淏y the time we get back, she鈥檒l have moved on to the neighbors鈥�,鈥� Netanyahu says.

鈥淏ibi-Sitter鈥� is a follow-up to an earlier video, since banned by Israel鈥檚 Central Elections Committee for showing children under 15. In it, the prime minister tries and fails to control the leaders of other parties, who are portrayed by a group of unruly preschoolers. 聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 no time to waste,鈥� Netanyahu says. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 have kindergarteners like this. To run a country, we need a strong and stable government.鈥�

Not to be outdone, other parties have released their own ads. Naftali Bennett, head of the religious Habayit Hayehudi party, takes a swing at leftists and moderates when he plays the part of what Israeli publication Haaretz describes as an 鈥渙verly apologetic secular Jew.鈥�

In the video 鈥� one of a number the party has released聽鈥� Bennett spends three minutes saying sorry to passersby in every imaginable situation before he drops the punchline: 鈥淔rom now on, we鈥檙e going to stop apologizing. Join Habayit Hayehudi.鈥�

In response, the left-wing Meretz released a clip featuring party leader Zahava Gal-On being dressed in ultra-Orthodox attire. Once Gal-On is ready, the scene cuts to text in Hebrew, which Haaretz translates as, 鈥淢eretz doesn鈥檛 make fun of brothers and sisters.鈥�

Then the final line: 鈥淢eretz works for everyone.鈥�

While Israel鈥檚 political ads have their critics, satire is an increasingly common feature of democratic elections around the world. India鈥檚 old tradition of political cartoons has in recent years been met with a more robust appetite for satire, the BBC reported last year, and in the Philippines, humor has long been companion to politics. In the United States, satirical news programs (such as Comedy Central's Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report) were the top television news sources for 18- to 29-year-olds in 2012, according to a Pew Research Center study.

鈥淐ontrary to some criticism, satire's goal is not voter apathy,鈥� Penn State professor Sophia McClennen, who also authored 鈥淚s Satire Saving Our Nation?鈥� wrote for The Huffington Post. 鈥淸I]ts goal is to encourage voters to turn their disgust into action and their frustrations into votes.鈥�

The strategy may be working聽鈥� at least for Netanyahu. Despite facing criticism at home and abroad for accepting US House Speaker John Boehner's invitation to address Congress on Iran's nuclear program, his image as a strong leader, especially on security issues, has him and his party ahead in the latest polls, according to Reuters.