Moving to Israel

Even after making Aliyah and moving to Israel, for an American, the deep roots of the United States never really leaves you. This becomes especially true when the worlds of Israel and America collide as it did this week with the death of former US secretary of state Alexander Haig.

Haig’s spokesman during his 1988 campaign for the Republican nomination for the presidency, Daniel Mariaschin, talked after his death about how he “always had a special feeling for Israel. I always had the impression that he considered himself a friend of Israel and understood its geo-security predicament as we moved through the years,” said Mariaschin, now executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International.

While in 1981, Haig, serving as secretary of state under president Ronald Reagan, proposed temporarily suspending the strategic cooperation agreement between the United Staes and Israel, he later on evolved into a firm believer in Israel as a powerful deterrent to terrorism. In 2001, he told the Jerusalem Post that it might not be a bad thing for Israel to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. “If the Israelis do launch a preemptive strike [on Iran], it may be saving the world a lot of trouble,” he said.

Powerful people in such positions are not commonly known for their dedication to both Israel and America, two of  the leaders of the world in the championing of democracy and freedom. We can only hope that more people with such integrity rise to such lofty positions and are able to make such a difference in the fight against evil.

Ari

As many of you probably know, US President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address the other day and, as usual, there are major ramifications for those interested in the well being of Israel.

The US is placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials, in what appears to be the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The President warned that his administration’s diplomatic outreach will now be combined with the “consequences.” Obama’s administration is attempting to garner broad international consensus for imposing sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which apparently controls the military side of the nuclear program. The deployments are an attempt to show Jerusalem that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, according to administration officials.

While we hope that the President is working with Israels’ - not to mention the worlds’ -  best interest at heart, it is worth thinking about whether, in the end, anything positive will result from these crucial decisions. Remember, the International community wasn’t exactly thrilled with Israel’s intentions to strike Iraq’s nuclear reactor in the early 1980’s and it turned out to be only through the grace of G-d that Israel acted regardless. It could very well be that Israeli action against Iran would be the best thing that could happen to the world at large and let’s hope President Obama and the US administration realize this before the ultimate mistake is made.

Ari

As most people have probably been reading about the dangerous situation in Iran (we wrote about it here last week) it has come as no surprise to many that Israel has been prominently brought to the spotlight. This occurred again the other day, not in the usual “it’s the Jews and Israels fault” sort of way but in a cry for help.

It seems the Iranian anti-regime activists are hoping for an Israeli technological hand to help them fight the Islamic Republic. The dissidents have appealed to Israel to help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. Hundreds have been reported dead and thousands injured in the protests that began after the so called “election” a few weeks ago produced the same rogue regime that has been leading Iran until now.

We here in Israel are no strangers to the homicidal tendencies of the mullah’s paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs and of course should do all we can to help those in need when facing these same criminals.

Let’s hope Israel’s technology can indeed help the situation in Iran and, equally as important, let’s hope the Israels and Americas of the world will be able to, please Hashem, stand up to all the evil forces out there and put the global and local terror threat that Iran provides to rest for good.

Ari

As a major proponent of Aliyah and moving to Israel my views often get skewed and “one track minded.” I guess that’s why when I read the news this morning my thoughts were not “this is a major story” but “and yet another reason to move to Israel.”

It seems that madness continues to ensue in Iran after the “election” results were anounced last week. For those of you who haven’t heard, the dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in the elections despite widespread belief that the results were, shall we say, less than fair.

The incredible thing is how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top Muslim leader, has accused “dirty Zionists” and “Zionist media” for being behind charges that the results of the election were rigged. If it weren’t so dangerous it would be almost comic how everything seems to be the fault of the Jews and Israel. At this point, when I hear an accusation so absurd and rediculous  being thrown at us I can think of nothing but how it’s got to be a sign to come home. Such a comment by anyone against any other people would be considered utter rubbish and over the top. The fact that he is able to say such a thing just makes me want to do the opposite and be in Israel.

Ari

Although this is a blog that attempts to encourage people to move to Israel, we usually attempt to do it in a positive way. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and today this is one of those situations. Today I would like to bring a disturbing article to your attention that will probably make one think about moving to Israel but through negative events coming out of the United States.

The article, printed in the World Tribune and brought to my attention by Tamar Yonah, talks about the cool reception received by  Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi upon his visit to Washington. It talks of how the new administration in the United States has viewed Israel of more of a problem in the Middle East than a friend and solution and notes how America has not been very encouraging towards Israel in regards towards Iran.

These are disturbing events and, again, although we prefer to not use fear as a tactic to try and bring Jews home to Israel, sometimes the facts speak for themselves. Please read the article and after viewing it and others like it, it would not surprise me to see many Americans making the move towards Aliyah without much else being said.

Ari

Last week I mentioned the elections in the United States and their possible ramifications on Israel. Now that the votes have been tallied and Barack Obama has decidedly overwhelmed John McCain for the Presidency, my conerns for the next four years are really coming to the surface.

While all is in the hands of Hashem and we can just pray that it turns out well for Israel and the Jewish people, you have to really wonder about some of the people who were happy with the results. This article talks about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sending his congratulations to President-elect Obama on his election win.

Regardless of anyone’s political views, it is pretty clear that Mr. Ahmadinejad is a truly wicked man. Hopefully it doesn’t mean much, but it would not be unreasonable for someone to wonder about being on the same political side (or any side) of this evil dictator. Again, one should not change their political beliefs just because they happen to coincide with some unsavory people. However, let’s just hope that Ahmadinejad doesn’t know something that we don’t.

May the coming four years of President-elect Obama’s reign be peaceful and fruitful for Israel, the Jews and good and decent people all over the world while still encouraging the return of Jews everywhere by moving to Israel.

 Ari