Right, so one day, an Iranian diplomat was walking through Manhattan, minding his own business, when he encountered the mayor of the Israeli city of Bat Yam, who started following him down the street with a lawsuit no less, acting for all intents and purposes like a Middle Eastern knock-off of Dog the Bounty Hunter, just minus the mullet and the mace.

Why? Well, it’s a story of peak hubris, quite frankly. Bat Yam is asking Iran to compensate it for missile damage caused during June of last year, when Israel fancied its chances. The catch is that the money the mayor hopes to recover is connected to an unpaid debt Israel owes Iran.

A breezy $1.1 billion of it. Just loose change for Israel though I’m sure.

An Israeli city is asking to be paid. And the brilliant idea is to seek compensation from money connected to the very debt Israel has spent years refusing to pay Iran. You couldn’t have written the hypocrisy any better.

The mayor in question is Tzvika Brot, whose city as I said, was hit by a bombardment in June last year, and who has now come all the way to New York with a claim for damages. There is a whole delegation and a camera recording the encounter, while an Iranian official is still trying to get on with his day, and Brot is delivering legal papers as though he were auditioning for a show called The Apprentice: International Law Edition.

Debt collection transformed into a performance, with the mayor apparently convinced he’s the star attraction.

But follow the thread of this so-called payday, back to what Israel actually owes Iran here.