Temporary versus Permanent: Time framing in the Israeli political arena

This article juxtaposes ‘temporary’ versus ‘permanent’ based on a study of the Israeli Prime Minister's ‘permanent incapacity’ (the result of illness) and of the President's ‘temporary incapacity’ (the result of a police investigation). Analysis indicates that: a) temporal maps are mainly framed by focusing on ‘temporary’ states; b) the temporal structure of ‘temporary’ is associated simultaneously with a sense of stability and with a search for change and transition; c) the temporal structure of ‘permanent’ is linked both to uncertainty and confusion and to the maintenance of continuity. It seems that the inherent tension between ‘temporary’ and ‘permanent’ is challenged by the notion of risk and the rise of ‘second modernity’.