Moving to Israel

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

With all the troubles and concerns going on in the world today and with the relationship between the new governments of Israel and the U.S. still not on a stable footing, Arutz Sheva did a great job today to remind everyone that the issue of Jonathan Pollard must not get left behind. As the article says:

“Pollard, who has been in American prison since 1985, was not convicted of treason, but rather of one count of passing classified information to a friendly country – Israel. He is credited with having informed Israel of Iraq’s Scud missile plans, enabling Israel to prepare in advance of the dozens of Iraqi attacks in 1991.”

The article quotes activists  asking the government not to let up in its efforts to free Pollard while encouraging the public should do its share to show him solidarity by writing him letters.

We should always keep the issue of Jonathan Pollard in our minds and in our prayers and daven that his release should be, G-d willing, immediately forthcoming.

Ari