With resurgent antisemitism sweeping the world and Israel in the diplomatic firing lines, it's easy to lose sight of this — but the Jewish nation is stronger now than at any point in its long history.
Plus Israel has discovered around 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and just signed an agreement worth $35 billion to ship a portion of it to a Muslim country: Egypt. There is potentially more to be discovered in areas not yet leased in the Mediterranean or leased but not yet explored.
If israel ever wanted there is also the Shfela basin with enormous quantities of shale oil - maybe 50 to 250 billion barrels with a portion of that recoverable with a future technology. That is not a misprint by the way as to the qauntity. It is a well know deposit that awaits a technology to extract it. The Left does not want that extracted due to "environmental concerns." Maybe the right technology comes along and the necessity to get it.
Uplifting sure, but we should NEVER get overconfident. The Romans, Greek, etc were all major powers whose overconfidence always betrayed them. It worries the hell outta me that so many Jewish kids know NOTHING of their history nor heritage and buy into all these lies about us and for that matter, Palestinians. I mean someday they may even tell us that Jesus was a Palestinian. THESE are threats we MUST take seriously. However Nachum, you make one very true point about Oct 7 bringing all of us squabbling Jewish groups together as one. It's the point Yigal Allon made in 1977 when he spoke at my Jewish school in Montreal: "At some UN "peace " conference in New York in the 60's, one of the Arab ambassadors asked my why 300 million Arabs couldn't defeat a measly 3 miliion Jews. I replied 'because you're doing it all wrong. You keep trying to kill us (he them showed his hand with fingers spread coming together into a fist) and what happens is we Jews stop fighting each other like this and come together like this. You wanna destroy Israel? Leave us alone completely and we'll do it for you". If Hamas had ever read Sun Tsu, who's first rule of war is "know your enemy better than they know themselves", they would have NEVER attacked on Oct 7th, or anytime else. Guaranteed that we would all STILL be fighting each other over Netanyahu to this day. I hate to say it, but there's a teensy weensy little thank you to Hamas for being so bloody imbellic, stupid and ignorant of who we Jews are.
I like your comments but directly after Oct. 7th....walking in Greenwich Village of NYC...the sign in a window...."not in my name" Followed soon after by "genocide" . Plus the Oscars and other award ceremonies for "Jews" to display their "virtue" as "good Jews" who hate and deny Israel.
So true Israelis came home to fight.....even the reservists who so Boldly pronounced before Oct. 7th that they would not answer the call to serve their country under Netanyahu and Smotrich.....and then they DID. The Israelis in "hostage square" Not a single anti hamas placard did I see. "End this senseless war."....giving a gift to hamas. True their kids were fighting and dying not mine. I all ready said in my post that all of this is maddening. O for May and June of '67 when Jews came out publicly in a force the way I've never seen since. November 23 I was part of maybe 10 k out for Israel ....there were a hundred thousand marching for "Palestine" and Gaza. Daily disturbances. They have numbers but their racist hate filled chants couldn't defeat the Jewish state.
No argument to anything you say, Ryan. You merely reinforce what I said, my fear is not the billions of muslem's and christians who hate us (note, I don't say who care about Palestinians since I don't think a single Jew hater gives a rat's damn for the Palestinians, they just enjoy global consequence-free access to Jew-hate), we see THEM from a mile away. It's the Jews who side with them that INFURIATE me. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are Muslems who ingested Jew hate with their mother's milk. But Bernie Sanders would have been the first Concentration Camp inmate to raise his hands and say "Please Nazi's Please. I'm a good jew. Could I be one of your kapo's ?" there have always been these "I just wanna be a "good" jew Jews, but I TRULY deeply despise them. THEY are our true enemy!!! And Michael Rapoport rips them a new one better than anyone. He calls them the "As a Jew" Jews with all the contempt they truly deeply deserve.
Now, we are also learning the lesson that we don’t need permission to defend our best interests. Israel’s recognition of Somaliland opens a new era in self-determination. In spite of the world’s angry objections Israel is stamping its strategic authority on the world stage.
"Israel stands as a testament to Jewish resilience, ingenuity, and unbreakable will." Life long Zionist here....I wish I could be as sanguine as you. I see Israel culturally and diplomatically isolated. Enormous forces arrayed against Israel, the Jewish people...by other Jews and post Jews and Jews whose only Jewishness is to hate Israel. And the Gentiles who are motivated by hating Israel unlike any other cause. I see it in everything today beginning with the soon to be mayor of NYC. True Israel has diplomats and scientists in some Arab lands and yet there is still only an icy peace....no real tourism from Arab countries to Israel. Or cultural exchanges. True when I turn on I24 Israel is making advances in cancer research ...in agriculture....all this and still under siege as Conor Cruise O Brien wrote fifty years ago. The Palestinians and Iranians thought in their miasma that Israel would collapse Oct. 8th. Gaza is entirely destroyed. So much for Israel's collapse. I note that aliyah has slowed. And what about those who are disgruntled and tired of constant war and leave...to live "normal lives in W. Europe" No matter the antisemitism some Israelis actually chose Ireland to live in....Portugal? Wow....a lot of contradictions and puzzles. So let the Bnai Menahse in....as they want aliyah and Israel is still only 7 and half million Jews and some hundred of thousands of Haredi who won't fight or participate in Israel's defense. Lots of maddening things. But I enjoyed your essay. It's bright and full of hope. I hope Israel teaches its history in the Land and knows how it was lost in antiquity.
"Israel is a pariah state in the eyes of The World."
Oh, Really?
The US/EU/UK (and Commonwealth) are learning a hard lesson that they no longer are the axis upon which The World Turns and most of it is self-inflicted. The can step out of the way as more and more countries line up to partner with Israel.
Bravo. Mak. And count my country among them. Mark Carney is a disaster as far as Jews are concerned. I truly worry for Canada's Jewish community, esp as I'm one of them!
The world should be commending Israel, not praising the archaic destitutes that call for its annihilation.
I wholeheartedly support Israel and its people in all of their endeavors.
Plus Israel has discovered around 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and just signed an agreement worth $35 billion to ship a portion of it to a Muslim country: Egypt. There is potentially more to be discovered in areas not yet leased in the Mediterranean or leased but not yet explored.
If israel ever wanted there is also the Shfela basin with enormous quantities of shale oil - maybe 50 to 250 billion barrels with a portion of that recoverable with a future technology. That is not a misprint by the way as to the qauntity. It is a well know deposit that awaits a technology to extract it. The Left does not want that extracted due to "environmental concerns." Maybe the right technology comes along and the necessity to get it.
Uplifting sure, but we should NEVER get overconfident. The Romans, Greek, etc were all major powers whose overconfidence always betrayed them. It worries the hell outta me that so many Jewish kids know NOTHING of their history nor heritage and buy into all these lies about us and for that matter, Palestinians. I mean someday they may even tell us that Jesus was a Palestinian. THESE are threats we MUST take seriously. However Nachum, you make one very true point about Oct 7 bringing all of us squabbling Jewish groups together as one. It's the point Yigal Allon made in 1977 when he spoke at my Jewish school in Montreal: "At some UN "peace " conference in New York in the 60's, one of the Arab ambassadors asked my why 300 million Arabs couldn't defeat a measly 3 miliion Jews. I replied 'because you're doing it all wrong. You keep trying to kill us (he them showed his hand with fingers spread coming together into a fist) and what happens is we Jews stop fighting each other like this and come together like this. You wanna destroy Israel? Leave us alone completely and we'll do it for you". If Hamas had ever read Sun Tsu, who's first rule of war is "know your enemy better than they know themselves", they would have NEVER attacked on Oct 7th, or anytime else. Guaranteed that we would all STILL be fighting each other over Netanyahu to this day. I hate to say it, but there's a teensy weensy little thank you to Hamas for being so bloody imbellic, stupid and ignorant of who we Jews are.
I like your comments but directly after Oct. 7th....walking in Greenwich Village of NYC...the sign in a window...."not in my name" Followed soon after by "genocide" . Plus the Oscars and other award ceremonies for "Jews" to display their "virtue" as "good Jews" who hate and deny Israel.
So true Israelis came home to fight.....even the reservists who so Boldly pronounced before Oct. 7th that they would not answer the call to serve their country under Netanyahu and Smotrich.....and then they DID. The Israelis in "hostage square" Not a single anti hamas placard did I see. "End this senseless war."....giving a gift to hamas. True their kids were fighting and dying not mine. I all ready said in my post that all of this is maddening. O for May and June of '67 when Jews came out publicly in a force the way I've never seen since. November 23 I was part of maybe 10 k out for Israel ....there were a hundred thousand marching for "Palestine" and Gaza. Daily disturbances. They have numbers but their racist hate filled chants couldn't defeat the Jewish state.
No argument to anything you say, Ryan. You merely reinforce what I said, my fear is not the billions of muslem's and christians who hate us (note, I don't say who care about Palestinians since I don't think a single Jew hater gives a rat's damn for the Palestinians, they just enjoy global consequence-free access to Jew-hate), we see THEM from a mile away. It's the Jews who side with them that INFURIATE me. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are Muslems who ingested Jew hate with their mother's milk. But Bernie Sanders would have been the first Concentration Camp inmate to raise his hands and say "Please Nazi's Please. I'm a good jew. Could I be one of your kapo's ?" there have always been these "I just wanna be a "good" jew Jews, but I TRULY deeply despise them. THEY are our true enemy!!! And Michael Rapoport rips them a new one better than anyone. He calls them the "As a Jew" Jews with all the contempt they truly deeply deserve.
Thank you for such an uplifting and proper reframing of the real Israel... bemet Am Yisrael Chai
Wow this essay brightened by spirits, which weren't overly dim to begin with.
Now, we are also learning the lesson that we don’t need permission to defend our best interests. Israel’s recognition of Somaliland opens a new era in self-determination. In spite of the world’s angry objections Israel is stamping its strategic authority on the world stage.
"Israel stands as a testament to Jewish resilience, ingenuity, and unbreakable will." Life long Zionist here....I wish I could be as sanguine as you. I see Israel culturally and diplomatically isolated. Enormous forces arrayed against Israel, the Jewish people...by other Jews and post Jews and Jews whose only Jewishness is to hate Israel. And the Gentiles who are motivated by hating Israel unlike any other cause. I see it in everything today beginning with the soon to be mayor of NYC. True Israel has diplomats and scientists in some Arab lands and yet there is still only an icy peace....no real tourism from Arab countries to Israel. Or cultural exchanges. True when I turn on I24 Israel is making advances in cancer research ...in agriculture....all this and still under siege as Conor Cruise O Brien wrote fifty years ago. The Palestinians and Iranians thought in their miasma that Israel would collapse Oct. 8th. Gaza is entirely destroyed. So much for Israel's collapse. I note that aliyah has slowed. And what about those who are disgruntled and tired of constant war and leave...to live "normal lives in W. Europe" No matter the antisemitism some Israelis actually chose Ireland to live in....Portugal? Wow....a lot of contradictions and puzzles. So let the Bnai Menahse in....as they want aliyah and Israel is still only 7 and half million Jews and some hundred of thousands of Haredi who won't fight or participate in Israel's defense. Lots of maddening things. But I enjoyed your essay. It's bright and full of hope. I hope Israel teaches its history in the Land and knows how it was lost in antiquity.
"Israel is a pariah state in the eyes of The World."
Oh, Really?
The US/EU/UK (and Commonwealth) are learning a hard lesson that they no longer are the axis upon which The World Turns and most of it is self-inflicted. The can step out of the way as more and more countries line up to partner with Israel.
Bravo. Mak. And count my country among them. Mark Carney is a disaster as far as Jews are concerned. I truly worry for Canada's Jewish community, esp as I'm one of them!
Beli Ayin Hara
You made my day thank you