Strange, your e mail address is transportable from state to state but you cannot do the same with your health policy. In other words your ability to engage in social media trumps your health.
Meanwhile, illegal immigrants, who are deported many times, and one returned to kill a lovely young woman who did not get any sentence, because he is more protected than the citizen he killed. Even if by accident, this dope addict should have gotten manslaughter. But then California is inhabited by citizens who act more like they are void of any morals and serve on juries that are equally so. Most Californians are not real people, they are simply living in the dream world they created.
They consider themselves a nation unto itself. (If this is correct and legitimate is it worthy of believing and important enough to give thought to? See 1 below.)
Then, New York re-elects de Blasio as their mayor because he has done such a fine job in building respectful and supporting relationships among the city's citizens with their police, raising taxes and limiting choice over New Yorker's ability to purchase a variety of products.
No wonder these bar bell states loved Clinton and rejected Trump. They are our nation's two largest insane asylums.
Then we have a former, fired FBI Director, who decided Clinton was not guilty before he had agents interrogate her but not under oath and after her husband had visited his boss to talk about their grandchildren.
Meanwhile, Democrats perpetuate the "Russian Collusion Dossier" myth which their own candidate had manufactured and paid for, yet, the Special Prosecutor, who was also the FBI Director when the Clinton uranium deal was done, also has failed, so far, to have his successor, Comey, interrogated and put under oath.
Though not conclusive, it would appear prosecutor Mueller is doing his best to accommodate Democrats who want to impeach Trump for beating their candidate who ran a lousy campaign, offered nothing but burnt Obama toast as her solutions for the problems he caused and so it goes in La La Land.. (See 1a below.)
Have we become one screwed up nation. or what? You decide.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My friend, Star,Parker, brings us back to George Washington for a lesson about sexual harassment. (See 2 below.)
___________________________
The NFL is giving large sums of money ($90 million) to support Kaepernick's "Social Justice" issues. Apparently some of the funding is coming from other charities supported by The NFL.
One would think they might support college funding for the children of police killed by thugs but that is probably not radical enough for the most tone deaf commissioner of The League .Roger Goodell. (See 3 below.)
+++++++++++++++
Trump and Jerusalem. Maybe he is able to carry it off where others failed. (See 4 below.)
And
Netanyahu continues to challenge the myth. (See 4a below.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Dick
___________________________
1)In 2016 nine hundred teachers got laid off from the Los Angeles Unified School District. They are $650,000 over their annual budget.
The following by an English teacher helps to explain one area that looms large over California's educational crisis. I hope each person receiving this mail will read it carefully, all the way to the end. It is sad what is happening to our great country all because our politicians are afraid they will miss out on a vote. What a travesty!
THIS ENGLISH TEACHER HAS PHRASED IT THE BEST I'VE SEEN YET.
THIS SHOULD MAKE EVERYONE THINK, BE YOU DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN OR INDEPENDENT. FROM A CALIFORNIA SCHOOL TEACHER - - -
"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large Southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and a roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make the Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten.
(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!)
I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids
(MORE OF OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!)
I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which,one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America.
(MORE AND MORE OF OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!)
I have had to intervene several times for young substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them putas (whores ) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears.
Free medical, free education, free food, day care, etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled not only to be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?
To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.
Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc., etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.
Americans, We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?
It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15, and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "political correctness" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.
If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know including your Congressman and Senators.
CHEAP LABOR? ISN'T THAT WHAT THE WHOLE IMMIGRATION ISSUE IS ABOUT?
BUSINESS DOESN'T WANT TO PAY A DECENT WAGE.
CONSUMERS DON'T WANT EXPENSIVE PRODUCE.
GOVERNMENT WILL TELL YOU AMERICANS DON'T WANT THE JOBS.
But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor." Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.
ALSO....
HE QUALIFIES FOR SECTION 8 HOUSING AND SUBSIDIZED RENT.
HE QUALIFIES FOR FOOD STAMPS.
HE QUALIFIES FOR FREE (NO DEDUCTIBLE), NO CO-PAY) HEALTH CARE.
HIS CHILDREN GET FREE BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES AT SCHOOL.
HE REQUIRES BILINGUAL TEACHERS AND BOOKS.
HE QUALIFIES FOR RELIEF FROM HIGH ENERGY BILLS.
IF THEY ARE OR BECOME AGED, BLIND OR DISABLED, THEY QUALIFY FOR SSI.
ONCE QUALIFIED FOR SSI THEY CAN QUALIFY FOR MEDICARE. ALL OF THIS IS AT TAXPAYER'S (OUR) EXPENSE.
HE DOESN'T WORRY ABOUT CAR INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE, OR HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE.
TAXPAYERS PROVIDE SPANISH LANGUAGE SIGNS, BULLETINS AND PRINTED MATERIAL.
HE AND HIS FAMILY RECEIVE THE EQUIVALENT OF $20.00 TO $30.00/HOUR IN BENEFITS.
WORKING AMERICANS ARE LUCKY TO HAVE $5.00 OR $6.00/HOUR LEFT AFTER PAYING THEIR BILLS AND HIS.
THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS ALSO PAY FOR INCREASED CRIME, GRAFFITI AND TRASH CLEAN-UP.
CHEAP LABOR? YEAH RIGHT! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
BY ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
The charge to which retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty may tell us a great deal about the Robert Mueller investigation.
The first question is, why did Flynn lie? People who lie to the FBI generally do so because, if they told the truth, they would be admitting to a crime. But the two conversations that Flynn falsely denied having were not criminal. He may have believed they were criminal but, if he did, he was wrong.
Consider his request to Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., to delay or oppose a United Nations Security Council vote on an anti-Israel resolution that the outgoing Obama administration refused to veto. Not only was that request not criminal, it was the right thing to do. President Obama’s unilateral decision to change decades-long American policy by not vetoing a perniciously one-sided anti-Israel resolution was opposed by Congress and by most Americans. It was not good for America, for Israel or for peace. It was done out of Obama’s personal pique against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rather than on principle.
Many Americans of both parties, including me, urged the lame-duck Obama not to tie the hands of the president-elect by allowing the passage of a resolution that would make it more difficult to achieve a negotiated peace in the Middle East.
As the president-elect, Donald Trump was constitutionally and politically entitled to try to protect his ability to broker a fair peace between the Israelis and Palestinians by urging all members of the Security Council to vote against or delay the enactment of the resolution. The fact that such efforts to do the right thing did not succeed does not diminish the correctness of the effort. I wish it had succeeded. We would be in a better place today.Some left-wing pundits, who know better, are trotting out the Logan Act, which, if it were the law, would prohibit private citizens (including presidents-elect) from negotiating with foreign governments. But this anachronistic law hasn’t been used for more than 200 years. Under the principle of desuetude — a legal doctrine that prohibits the selective resurrection of a statute that has not been used for many decades — it is dead-letter. Moreover, the Logan Act is unconstitutional insofar as it prohibits the exercise of free speech.
If it were good law, former Presidents Reagan and Carter would have been prosecuted: Reagan for negotiating with Iran’s ayatollahs when he was president-elect, to delay releasing the American hostages until he was sworn in; Carter for advising Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to reject former President Clinton’s peace offer in 2000-2001. Moreover, Jesse Jackson, Jane Fonda, Dennis Rodman and others who have negotiated with North Korea and other rogue regimes would have gone to prison.
So there was nothing criminal about Flynn’s request of Kislyak, even if he were instructed to do so by higher-ups in the Trump transition team. The same is true of his discussions regarding sanctions. The president-elect is entitled to have different policies about sanctions and to have his transition team discuss them with Russian officials.This is the way The New York Times has put it: “Mr. Flynn’s discussions with Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, were part of a coordinated effort by Mr. Trump’s aides to create foreign policy before they were in power, documents released as part of Mr. Flynn’s plea agreement show. Their efforts undermined the existing policy of President Barack Obama and flouted a warning from a senior Obama administration official to stop meddling in foreign affairs before the inauguration.”
If that characterization is accurate, it demonstrates conclusively that the Flynn conversations were political and not criminal. Flouting a warning from the Obama administration to stop meddling may be a political sin (though some would call it a political virtue) but it most assuredly is not a crime.
So why did Flynn lie about these conversations, and were his lies even material to Mueller’s criminal investigation if they were not about crimes?
The second question is why did Mueller charge Flynn only with lying? The last thing a prosecutor ever wants to do is to charge a key witness with lying.
A witness such as Flynn who has admitted he lied — whether or not to cover up a crime — is a tainted witness who is unlikely to be believed by jurors who know he’s made a deal to protect himself and his son. They will suspect that he is not only “singing for his supper” but that he may be “composing” as well — that is, telling the prosecutor what he wants to hear, even if it is exaggerated or flat-out false. A “bought” witness knows that the “better” his testimony, the sweeter the deal he will get. That’s why prosecutors postpone the sentencing until after the witness has testified, because experience has taught them that you can’t “buy” a witness; you can only “rent “ them for as long as you have the sword of Damocles hanging over them.
So, despite the banner headlines calling the Flynn guilty plea a “thunderclap,” I think it may be a show of weakness on the part of the special counsel rather than a sign of strength. So far he has had to charge potential witnesses with crimes that bear little or no relationship to any possible crimes committed by current White House incumbents. Mueller would have much preferred to indict Flynn for conspiracy or some other crime directly involving other people, but he apparently lacks the evidence to do so.
I do not believe he will indict anyone under the Logan Act. If he were to do so, that would be unethical and irresponsible. Nor do I think he will charge President Trump with any crimes growing out of the president’s exercise of his constitutional authority to fire the director of the FBI or to ask him not to prosecute Flynn.
The investigation will probably not end quickly, but it may end with, not a thunderclap, but several whimpers.
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School and author of “Trumped Up: How Criminalizing Politics is Dangerous to Democracy.” Follow him on Twitter @AlanDersh and on Facebook @AlanMDershowitz.
____________________________________
George Washington's solution for sexual harassment
By Star Parker | Syndicated Nationally by Creators
The less we self-govern through eternal Biblical truths, learned at home and at school, the more we grow government to control our lives.
The avalanche of sexual harassment claims, with new ones pouring forth daily, leads me to the wisdom of George Washington's observation in his farewell address in 1796:
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. ... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be managed without religion."
You may say, "There you go again, Star. Waving your Bible."
But is there a better answer for dealing with this problem?
Society, all human life, is guided by rules. The only question before us is: What are the rules that we choose to live by?
Washington's point is crucial. In a free society, one in which we want to minimize government and political control, we must maximize self-governance. Religion, and the morality that emerges from it, provides the rules by which free men and women govern their own behavior.
I will say further that the rules that we learn from scripture provide the framework for a society based on love, respect and creativity, as opposed to power and control.
And indeed, as we read accounts of the behavior of these men of wealth and influence, who have achieved what many Americans see as the pinnacle of American success, we read descriptions of the behavior of beasts, not men.
Sexuality, outside the framework of mutual love, commitment and respect between husband and wife, is transformed from a physical expression of intimacy and beauty to the gross and crass behavior of brutes.
That this appears to be so widespread in our society should trouble us all.
So what do we do?
I am a Christian, but I do not believe that our government was designed to mend men's souls. It was designed to allow citizens to live free.
We cannot force citizens to do what Washington advises — learn and be guided by scripture.
What's the alternative?
One is to forget it and let people do what they want. Let women fend for themselves when beastly predators with money and power threaten them.
Few will accept this option.
Alternatively, we can have politicians design our rules. But can this work? Without guidelines of scripture, how do we discern right and wrong, acceptable and forbidden?
This is the trend that has been going on for years. The less we self-govern through eternal Biblical truths, learned at home and at school, the more we grow government to control our lives.
In response to sexual harassment violations perpetrated by some members of congress, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock has introduced a congressional resolution requiring "all House Members, Officers, employees, including interns, detailees, and fellows, of the House of Representatives shall complete an anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training program during each session of Congress."
Surely, similar programs will be popping up across industry. So instead of our workforce developing new and better products, more of their time will be spent sitting in anti-harassment training sessions, learning rules designed by bureaucrats.
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University published a report last year on the costs to our economy of the vast growth in the regulatory state from 1977 to 2012. The study concludes that accumulated regulatory growth reduced the size of the American economy in 2012 by 25 percent — $4 trillion of what it might have been.
Aside from economic costs, what are the human costs of our lives increasingly being controlled by bureaucrats?
According to research from Stanford University, 10 percent of married couples meet at work. So much for this, as men will fear giving a woman a second glance at work, let alone saying or doing anything that might hint he's attracted to her.
I see only one viable path to a healthy, free nation. Choose to heed the wisdom of our first president.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3) REPORT: NFL Taking Money From Breast Cancer, Veterans Funds To Pay For 'Social Justice' Settlement
49er Eric Reid made shock claim in interview to Slate magazine.
San Francisco 49er Eric Reid shocked even the left-leaning Slate when he told the magazine, in an interview Saturday, that the NFL intends to use money slated for breast cancer charities and the "Salute to Service" veterans fund to pay for a seven-year, $89 million "social justice" program designed to placate protesting players.
The NFL announced the nearly-$100 million initiative last week, as a way of "settling" with a coalition of players who have been kneeling during the national anthem since the start of the season - a group led by now-former 49er, out-of-work second string quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Philadelphia Eagles’ Malcolm Jenkins and retired NFLer, Anquan Boldin.
At the time of the announcement, however, details about where the money would come from were unclear. The NFL said only that owners would be allowed to allocate funds into “projects dealing with criminal justice reform, law enforcement/community relations and education.” But, Reid says, the money spent on these projects isn't new - it's simply being reallocated from existing charitable giving projects.
“In the discussion that we had, Malcolm [Jenkins] conveyed to us—based on discussions that he had with the NFL—that the money would come from funds that are already allocated to breast cancer awareness and Salute to Service,” Reid told Slate. “So it would really be no skin off the owners’ backs: They would just move the money from those programs to this one.”
That didn't sit well with Reid, who was part of the coalition of players who had been protesting the national anthem. He, and several others, say they elected to leave the bargaining group because they didn't believe it was fair to pull money from other worthwhile causes to fund "social justice" projects, particularly when players have insisted, all year, that their protests aren't anti-military, only to have their cause pull millions from a fund to help veterans.
They, of course, blamed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the idea, claiming that Goodell wanted to bring the protests to and end as quickly as possible, but in such a way as to not hurt the owners too much in the process. In essence, Reid claims, Goodell wanted to pay off the kneelers in order to get the league's viewership back on track ahead of the end of the season.
The NFL didn't provide a comment to Slate n the matter.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By Jonathan Tobin
In the end, perhaps only a president so completely divorced from diplomatic reality and utterly indifferent to international opinion could do it.
Despite the difficulties and the manifest dangers involved with keeping America's promise -- enshrined in U.S. law passed by Congress -- to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, President Donald Trump may actually do it sometime this week.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the State Department had informed U.S. embassies around the world about a plan to make the move and to begin planning for how to deal with the protests that would inevitably follow.
For U.S. diplomats living abroad -- especially those in the Middle East or working in any Muslim-majority country -- this is no joke. If Trump makes good on the pledge, the response from the Arab street will likely be nasty and might rival or even exceed the destruction, violence and even murder that resulted when a Danish newspaper published a few satirical cartoons about the Mohammed, the Islamic prophet
Egged on by Iran and other radical Islamists, protests will be massive and will carry a hefty price tag.This is why most observers, including those sympathetic to Israel, have been skeptical about talk of an embassy move.Few thought even a president as unconventional as Trump would do something that virtually everyone in the foreign policy establishment as well as moderate Arab nations thinks would not only create a crisis, but also preclude any progress toward a two-state solution or peace.
Why then is Trump contemplating something the smart people are convinced is foolish? The answer from his critics -- whose numbers increase every time he lets loose with an ill-considered tweet or statement -- is that he is an ignorant fool.
Yet, as with those obnoxious tweets, which distract his foes from policy issues and amuse his fans, there may be a method to the madness. It's entirely possible that Trump is either being guided to or is stumbling along a path that could be saner than the supposedly safer course steered by his predecessors on Jerusalem.
According to The Wall Street Journal, what Trump might do is to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and announce plans for the embassy move, but make it clear that won't happen for several years. In the interim, the U.S. ambassador could work in Jerusalem and peace talks could resume.
4a) Fundamentally Freund: Netanyahu shatters the myth of Israel’s isolation
By MICHAEL FREUND
|
Maintaining the myth of Israel’s isolation is a critical component of this strategy, which aims to compel the government to make concessions at home to win greater sympathy abroad. Last week, after a flight carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed on the airport tarmac in Nairobi, Kenya, one of the enduring fables of Middle East lore was dealt a withering blow.
Upon disembarking, the premier of the Jewish state, often described as “isolated” in the international arena, was greeted with all the colorful pomp and ceremony of an honor guard, as the Israeli and Kenyan flags fluttered side by side.
The brief welcoming ceremony marked the start of a whirlwind trip during which Netanyahu met with 11 African leaders who had come to attend the inauguration of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
One by one, they sat with the prime minister, looking for ways to expand and deepen bilateral relations with Israel in a variety of fields ranging from agriculture and sustainable development to cooperation in the fight against Islamic jihadist terrorism.
The trip marked the third time Netanyahu has visited Africa in the past 18 months, and on all three occasions he has been received with a warmth that belies the canard that the Jewish state has no friends out there in the big, wide world.
Indeed, back in June Netanyahu visited Liberia and was given the honor of becoming the first non-African head of government to address a meeting of the regional Economic Community of West African States, known as ECO WAS, which represents a quarter of the continent’s population.
Prior to that, on his first visit to the region in July 2016, the prime minister was hailed with so much affection that it was easy to forget he represents a country with just eight million inhabitants, similar in size to New Jersey.
What makes this all the more remarkable is the turnabout it represents. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, many sub-Saharan countries moved quickly to break off relations with Jerusalem. Now, they are lining up to learn from Israeli advances in medicine, water irrigation and computer technology.
Africa is not alone in this regard. Israel’s growing roster of global pals is salient proof that the country’s alleged isolation on the world stage is an anachronistic myth.
Relations with countries as far afield as Serbia, India, Colombia, Paraguay and Panama have all flowered in recent years, marking a sharp contrast with the situation that existed just a few decades ago.
And, if recent reports are accurate, an unprecedented behind-the-scenes improvement in ties with Saudi Arabia and various Gulf Arab states is now underway.
In truth, one of Netanyahu’s biggest unsung accomplishments has been his success in broadening Israel’s foreign relations.
Perhaps influenced by his economic background from his days at MIT and then at the Boston Consulting Group, the prime minister has chosen to implement the diplomatic equivalent of diversifying one’s portfolio, the practice of spreading investments among a wide variety of assets in order to reduce exposure to risk.
By diversifying Israel’s diplomatic portfolio, through expanding the country’s ties on various continents, Netanyahu has succeeded in laying the groundwork to reduce the volatility of Israel’s international relations moving forward.
This is an enormous achievement, one that has already begun to bear fruit for Israeli exporters as well as in the halls of international institutions such as the United Nations.
But don’t expect to read too much about this subject anytime soon in much of the mainstream press. After all, highlighting Israel’s popularity would only serve to undermine the pro-Palestinian narrative that is being pushed by the Left and various journalists, who would have us all believe that the Jewish state is being shunned because of the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.
Maintaining the myth of Israel’s isolation is a critical component of this strategy, which aims to compel the government to make concessions at home to win greater sympathy abroad.
But the accuracy of that equation has collapsed in the face of reality. The fact of the matter is that even as the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria has grown by leaps and bounds, so too has Israel’s popularity on the world stage.
In addition, for the media to acknowledge that Israel’s foreign relations are better than they have been in decades would require crediting Netanyahu with a major triumph, which is something many are loathe to do.
To be sure, there is no question that much remains to be done to improve Israel’s standing among the nations. But by focusing so much energy and effort in this direction, and enlarging the roster of our nation’s friends abroad, Netanyahu has done a great service to the Jewish state, and for that he should not be denied the credit that is his due.
Upon disembarking, the premier of the Jewish state, often described as “isolated” in the international arena, was greeted with all the colorful pomp and ceremony of an honor guard, as the Israeli and Kenyan flags fluttered side by side.
The brief welcoming ceremony marked the start of a whirlwind trip during which Netanyahu met with 11 African leaders who had come to attend the inauguration of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
One by one, they sat with the prime minister, looking for ways to expand and deepen bilateral relations with Israel in a variety of fields ranging from agriculture and sustainable development to cooperation in the fight against Islamic jihadist terrorism.
The trip marked the third time Netanyahu has visited Africa in the past 18 months, and on all three occasions he has been received with a warmth that belies the canard that the Jewish state has no friends out there in the big, wide world.
Indeed, back in June Netanyahu visited Liberia and was given the honor of becoming the first non-African head of government to address a meeting of the regional Economic Community of West African States, known as ECO WAS, which represents a quarter of the continent’s population.
Prior to that, on his first visit to the region in July 2016, the prime minister was hailed with so much affection that it was easy to forget he represents a country with just eight million inhabitants, similar in size to New Jersey.
What makes this all the more remarkable is the turnabout it represents. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, many sub-Saharan countries moved quickly to break off relations with Jerusalem. Now, they are lining up to learn from Israeli advances in medicine, water irrigation and computer technology.
Africa is not alone in this regard. Israel’s growing roster of global pals is salient proof that the country’s alleged isolation on the world stage is an anachronistic myth.
Relations with countries as far afield as Serbia, India, Colombia, Paraguay and Panama have all flowered in recent years, marking a sharp contrast with the situation that existed just a few decades ago.
And, if recent reports are accurate, an unprecedented behind-the-scenes improvement in ties with Saudi Arabia and various Gulf Arab states is now underway.
In truth, one of Netanyahu’s biggest unsung accomplishments has been his success in broadening Israel’s foreign relations.
Perhaps influenced by his economic background from his days at MIT and then at the Boston Consulting Group, the prime minister has chosen to implement the diplomatic equivalent of diversifying one’s portfolio, the practice of spreading investments among a wide variety of assets in order to reduce exposure to risk.
By diversifying Israel’s diplomatic portfolio, through expanding the country’s ties on various continents, Netanyahu has succeeded in laying the groundwork to reduce the volatility of Israel’s international relations moving forward.
This is an enormous achievement, one that has already begun to bear fruit for Israeli exporters as well as in the halls of international institutions such as the United Nations.
But don’t expect to read too much about this subject anytime soon in much of the mainstream press. After all, highlighting Israel’s popularity would only serve to undermine the pro-Palestinian narrative that is being pushed by the Left and various journalists, who would have us all believe that the Jewish state is being shunned because of the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.
Maintaining the myth of Israel’s isolation is a critical component of this strategy, which aims to compel the government to make concessions at home to win greater sympathy abroad.
But the accuracy of that equation has collapsed in the face of reality. The fact of the matter is that even as the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria has grown by leaps and bounds, so too has Israel’s popularity on the world stage.
In addition, for the media to acknowledge that Israel’s foreign relations are better than they have been in decades would require crediting Netanyahu with a major triumph, which is something many are loathe to do.
To be sure, there is no question that much remains to be done to improve Israel’s standing among the nations. But by focusing so much energy and effort in this direction, and enlarging the roster of our nation’s friends abroad, Netanyahu has done a great service to the Jewish state, and for that he should not be denied the credit that is his due.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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