Israel's Defense

Israel is a small country surrounded by Arab and Moslem countries with an overwhelmingly larger population, many of whom have been taught for the generations to hate Jews and Israel. These surrounding lands have been generally ruled by dictators and monarchs who have used Israel as a scapegoat for their own shortcomings. The "democratic" governments that have recently replaced those autocracies in the "Arab Spring" have not shown themselves to be any friendlier to Israel than their predecessors. In fact, freedom of speech has often revealed more hatred than before. Israel over the years has come to an understanding with many of those Arab countries, but the instability of those governments has led to the question of how much can Israel trust those countries with the present shifting of power there. The armistice lines of 1948 have given Israel a long and tortuous border with all of Israel situated close to the border, particularly the areas of greatest population density. Attempts by earlier liberal governments to create 2 separate states, Israel and Palestine, failed miserably. The rapproachment between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs in the 1990s led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority but collapsed when Yasser Arafat rejected the Clinton/Barak plan for a Palestinian state and instead started the Second Intifada with suicide bombers. A first stage attempt to unilaterally force the creation of a Palestinian state by withdrawing from Gaza resulted in a Hamas government sworn to the destruction of Israel which caused or allowed rockets to be fired into Israel.
Israel's defense against a surrounding larger population in which most people detest israel and would be happy to see it disappear, is its greater technological advancement and military power.
In the Israeli population, the zealots and settlement people are a minority and the majority are mainly relatively secular Mediterranean people (probably most similar to the people of the European Mediterranean coast) who don't like the settlements, desperately wish for peace and normal life, and don't want to control the Palestinian territories. But the normal majority in Israel has been disillusioned by their experience with their neighbors over the years. Add to that a Jewish history of persecution for two thousand years culminating in the holocaust which killed 1/3 of all the Jews in the world. No wonder Israelis have elected a xenophobic government. But xenophobia is contrary to the Zionist ideal. Zionism is supposed to take Jews out of the ghetto, not turn Israel into a new kind of ghetto.
Israel's technical and military superiority is mainly because of the ingenuity, bravery, and hard work of the people of Israel, but it is also partly because of the help it gets from Jews and non-Jews in other parts of the world. Some of that help is given unconditionally, but some is given with the understanding that Israel has a purpose. In our tradition, we Jews are supposed to be a good example for eveyone else. The purpose of Israel should not be to repopulate the ancient Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel), putting real estate ahead of peace and fairness. Israel should be a beacon of modernity and democracy in a part of the world that desperately needs that. I don't believe in the concept of Jewish "birth right". Israel exists because it exists, however it came about. If the armistice lines happened to exclude part of Eretz Yisrael so be it. Smooth out the lines for a defensible position and move on. If everything else can be resolved, I'm sure some equitable solution can be ultimately found for Jerusalem. As intransigent as the Arabs might be, you have to keep trying to make peace. What else can you do? Israel is there and the Arabs live around it. That won't change.
Actually, there have been glimmers of hope. The SESAME project is one. It is a physics project located in Jordan which includes Israel, a number of Arab countries, Iran, Turkey, and Cyprus. Another glimmer is trade between Israel and its neighbors. It is conducted below the radar, but it exists. Another glimmer is in the reception by ordinary Iranians of the music of Persian Jewish Israeli singer Rita Jahanforooz. Her music is popular in Israel and has recently become popular among young Iranians in spite of the government.
So let us hope that the time will  come soon when Herzl's dream will fully come to pass, an Israel based on Jewish (Hebrew) values, democratic for all its inhabitants, a haven for oppressed Jews (and some non-Jews integrated into the Hebrew Israeli culture), which does not have to worry about its Jewishness, which can be an example of modernity to its region of the world.

Egyptian Democracy?

Recently, people in Egypt have been rioting because the former leader of their country, Hosni Mubarak, was given a life sentence instead of execution. In a democracy, when a leader leaves office, no matter how bad a job he has done, he goes back to a normal private life. Is the blood thirsty mob an improvement over Mubarak? No wonder the people of Israel are skeptical of any arrangement they make with their Arab neighbors. Practicality means that Israel has to make compromises for a chance of peace, but it has to be pursued cautiously and with keeping a balance of power weighted in Israel's favor.

Shimon Peres on the View

I was impressed with Barbara Walter's interview of Shimon Peres on the View last week. Mr. Peres (the President of Israel) made it clear that coordination between Israel and the USA are better today under President Obama than under any previous American president. Actions speak louder than words.

To the Radical Right Wing Republicans

President Obama is as much a friend of Israel as any American president has been. He has done a much better job of fighting terrorism than the previous Republican administration and therefore has done a better job of protecting Israel as well as the United States (the 2 countries which together contain most of the Jews in the world). Now you Radical Right Wing Republican Zealots (including some of your Jewish pawns) want to use us Jews to help you defeat President Obama in the next election by claiming that he is against Israel. I am a Jew and a Zionist. I am always concerned about the safety of my fellow Jews everywhere, including Israel. But I will think for myself and not be led by your lies. You can not use me.

One Israeli for 1000 Palestinian Terrorists

Israel did the right thing in negotiating the release of Gilad Shalit in return for the release of 1000 Palestinian terrorists. One Israeli person is worth more than 1000 Palestinian terrorists.

The United Nations and Palestinian Statehood

If the U.N. were to take some action toward upgrading their opinion of Palestinian statehood, some Israelis have advocated "punishing" the Palestinian Authority. Why? Who cares what the U.N. calls Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip)? The realities on the ground will remain the same if neither side changes course. Perhaps it will put Abbas in a stronger position with his own people, allowing him to make some of the concessions needed to come to an agreement with Israel or avoiding premature real statehood responsibility. Perhaps it will remove the urgency of creating a real Palestinian state, allowing it to continue to grow economically to reach a position where it will more likely behave as a good partner with Israel (which seems to be Netanyahu's plan?). The only loser would be the U.N. which would be pushed to the side by reality.

Not Just Tolerated

To create peace between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, both sides must do more than just begrudgingly tolerate each other. To many Arabs, Israel is an anomaly that should have no right to exist. After years, it has become obvious to them that Israel does exist and will not go away. But any concession in negotiation is overly generous. In the proper order of things, Jews are not supposed to be equals in their own country,but rather a subserviant minority.
On the other hand, there are some Jews who believe that the Land of Israel (the same land which the Arabs call Palestine) was given to the Jews by God. To them, allowing any Arabs to live in that land is an act of extreme generosity. This attitude is equally unfair and delusional.
Just as Hamas can use that kind of logic to justify its rocket attacks on Israel and complain when Israel retaliates, extreme right wing Jews can use a similar logic to justify the West Bank settlements and ignoring the rights of Arabs in the Palestinian territories and in some cases even Arab citizens of Israel.
One can hope that one day the rational people on both sides can come together to create a land that recognizes the rights of all the inhabitants of the land whether it ends up split into 2 or 3 countries or is unified into one.