The Israeli Business Model

I can't say enough about Nefesh B'nefesh. Yesterday we attended a "fair" where they brought us in to give us our teudat zehut (Israeli ID cards without which you don't exist here), but also brought in different banks, health insurance companies and the like to compete for our business. So, armed with the Teudot Zehut I headed this morning straight for the shipping company to release my lift and hopefully get our stuff. The lady at the shipping company was really nice. She took all our information, helped me fill out the forms - she was really great. But when I asked her when we'd get our stuff, she said, "Oh - Thursday maybe, and by Sunday at the latest." What? It seems that I have to pay for every day that the shipment is in Israel longer than four days. Apparently the shipment arrived last Wednesday, but no one really knows. At the same time, I got my Teudat Zehut in record time, came immediately to release the lift the very next day, and now I've got to wait until the tax people decide to release my lift. But they get to charge me for every day that they hold onto the lift until they decide to release it. When I told my brother about this little catch-22, my brother said, "Welcome to Israel."