Moving to Israel

While I would never discourage anyone from moving to Israel, today’s article of the week does, unfortunately, contain some sobering thoughts of the state of our country. Fred Moncharsh, an Oleh from the West Coast of America as well as a Likud activist and member of the Likud Central Committee, does a fantastic job of making his point and painting a very clear picture of some of the troubles facing the Jewish homeland today.

The biggest problem, says Moncharsh, is the lack of true leadership here in Israel and he points out that this is not a new phenomena. He talks of how this has been a problem dating back decades. In his words:

“Israel needs a real leader. A real leader who is more than hot air. A real leader who has a red line, any red line. A leader who knows that when the red line is crossed, the time to talk is over, and the time to act is crucial.”

Moncharsh is a true Zionist, lover of the land and a very astute observer of the political landscape here and in the Middle East. This is a highly recommended article and, as you’ll see by the comments at the bottom, a lively discussion and debate is already brewing. Enjoy the piece.

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

Now that the dust has settled (somewhat) from the dramatic elections for Israel’s Knesset a couple of weeks ago we start to wonder where we go from here.

As President Shimon Peres has asked Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu to form Israel’s coming government we seem to have a number of schools of thought. One is the “here we go again” thinking focusing on how Netanyahu was our Prime Minister not too long ago and, as things have grown increasingly worse in Israel over the years, the (reasonable) questioning is why this time will be any different.

There is, however, another school of thought. It seems that some people are subscribing to the theory that Netanyahu has learned from past mistakes and that we have therefore witnessed a historic decision that could save the civilized world. These pundits point to the fact that in his first statements as prime minister-presumptive “to the shock of many, he pointedly refused even to mention the Palestinian peace process, which has been going nowhere of late. Nor was there, again clearly deliberately, any reference made to the so-called two-state solution, which those negotiations had been aiming to find.” This quote comes from an article in the U.S. paper Investor’s Business Daily and echoes the sentiments of many people.

While it is impossible to know how the situation will play itself out I, for one, hope that the projections in the above article are accurate. We have very dangerous enemies facing Israel and the entire civlized world and a leader who sees this threat and is ready to act on it is one that Israel and the world sorely needs more than ever.

Ari