Breaking News - Avast! Israel's Pirate Party aims for electoral booty

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By James Maceda, NBC News foreign correspondentTwo rakish young men with ponytails order drinks at a bar.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld  “What'll it be?” asks the barman in Hebrew. He, too, is thin, with shoulder-length gray hair. One of the two men leans forward and says, “Make it two chasers – freedom and democracy – please!'

They all laugh heartily.


Thus begins a paid political ad for the Pirate Party, one of a range of fringe parties competing for votes in Israel's parliamentary elections, to be held Tuesday.

If you've ever been tempted, as I have, to write-in “Mickey Mouse” on your ballot, you'll understand why I jumped at the chance to meet up with the people ordering – and purporting to serve – shots of freedom and democracy. They could be found at a Pirate Party media event at the heart of Jerusalem.

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