My Hopes for Israel's Future

I have shared a lot of information with you about the recent events in Israel politics and goings on, but no one knows what the future holds for the Middle East. Will the Jews remain in Israel or will the Muslims push them out? Only time will tell, but either way, everything will eventually work out. Hopefully, the Jews will remain in Israel and will not have to give up any more holy landmarks, and the fighting and endless deaths will end. With Obama's new ideas and the Pope involved, hopefully there will be a successful peace agreement that will bring an end to the Holy wars of the region. Also, I really hope that the Israeli situation with Iran does not heat up anymore than it already has. It would be a shame for Israel to fight on more fronts than it already has to. The fact is that it is a part of everyday life for Israelis to see suicide bombers and death. Hopefully this will not be the case as we move into the future. I will be sure to keep ya'll posted on any major events that occur in the peace negotiations with both the Palestinians and Iran, as well as any random events that occur!

The Pope Visits Israel

Yesterday, the Pope began his visit to Israel to work on Jewish/Catholic relations. Earlier this month, he visited the Arab world to work on Islamic/Catholic relations. While he was in Israel, he went to show his support of the fact that the Holocaust happened by visiting the Israeli national Holocaust museum, Yam Vashem. I think he felt the need to improve the Jewish view of him since he allowed the bishop back into power who was a Holocaust denier. Pope Benedict has already apologized for not researching the bishop better, but this was a way to show that he knows the Holocaust happened. Hopefully, he can help with the peace agreements between the Jews and Muslims. It would be nice to have a neutral person with a strong religious background to mediate these peace talks. Who knows, maybe the Pope could be the solution to the Middle East conflict. According to http://israelpolicyforum.ngphost.com/blog/pope-calls-palestinian-homeland, he too supports the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I still do not believe that this is the solution that will solve the problem, but maybe it really is the temporary solution that is needed.

Islamic Conference in Iran

A couple of days after the incident at the U.N. Anti-Racism conference, several Islamic countries met in Iran to discuss the issue with Israel. During this conference, they accussed Israel of war crimes in Gaza and crimes against humanity. The Iranian president has even called for an end of the Jewish state of Israel. Personally, it is ridiculous for Iran to be concerned with the goings on in Israel above the other issues that Iran faces. The Iranian president just wants to justify his future attacks in Israel by making these claims. I think he is also trying to pull all of the Islamic countries together to rally against Israel in different ways. He just wants an end to any Jewish homeland because he is so oppossed to Jews. He is criticizing others for things that past leaders of his own country have done to its own citizens. He is just being hypocritical and trying to hide his agenda of eliminating Israel from the map by saying that the IDF committed war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza and humanity. Hopefully, this situation will not heat up anymore and a peace agreement can be reached between Israel and Iran, but I think that is a long shot!

U.N. Anti-Racism Conference

While many countries from around the world gathered to discuss the issue of racism in the world, countries such as the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, and Poland boycotted the conference. According to http://israelpolicyforum.ngphost.com/blog/un-human-rights-and-israel, Israel also boycotted the U.N. conferences in Geneva, Switzerland. The Iranian president took center stage with a speech he made at the conference in mis-April. He accussed Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians and being allowed to get away with it because of everything that has happened to the Jews in the past. His speech was so contoversial and several of the western nations who were at the conference got up and walked out. He accussed the western world of bringing to power "the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine" according to http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/20/racism.conference/index.html. I beleive that it is wrong to compare what is happening with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the acts of genocide againat the Jews. It is not anything close to the situation the Jews were put in during the Holiocaust. There is not a bunch of merciless and uncalled for murders of Palestinians on the part of Israel. I think his speech shows why the western world does not like him and is weary of his actions. He seems like a very scary man who is trying to create problems and used the conference to get across his own agenda. It will be intersting to watch the situation unfold in the upcoming months.

U.S.-Israeli Relations

I went to Israel last summer when we knew which candidates were running for U.S. president. Every where we went, it became more evident that the Israeli's were not in favor of Obama becoming president. Before going to Israel, I thought that he was the right choice for the presidency, but after hearing their opinions, I began to re-think my opinion. They felt that Obama would be in favor of helping the Arab world against Israel and would not be a fair peace negotiator. In the end, I still felt that he was the better option for president, but I felt a little wary towards his foreign policy because I want the U.S. to continue to support Israel. After reading some of the articles about U.S. relations with Israel so far, I think it is safe to say that Obama will not end the U.S.'s support of Israel. It is a little bit scary that his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to create a two-state solution though. The Israelis clearly voted against this solution when they elected Netanyahu over Livni. Something else that is a little scary is the fact that http://israelpolicyforum.ngphost.com/blog/ipf-welcomes-subtle-shift-american-policy-toward-hamas says that Obama is shifting his policies toward Hamas. This brings up the memories of what several Israelis told us while we were in Israel last summer. I hope that the two countries can continue to work together and find a solution to the conflict in the region. Both countries need to remain open-minded to working on this problem together, and hopefully, there won't be a problem.

U.S. Meets with Israeli Government Officials

U.S. Envoy George Mitchell visited Israel for the third time in mid-April. He met with several of the country's government officials, including the president and foreign minister. Mitchell talked about the peace negotiations with the Palestinians and with Iran. Apparently, the U.S.'s stance on the issue with the Palestinians is the two-state solution that was being discussed in the peace negotiations in Egypt according to http://israelpolicyforum.ngphost.com/blog/george-mitchell-ramallah-two-state-solution-only-solution. Israel feels that there will not be peace in the region until the threat of Iran is gone, and they are pushing for peace talks with the Iranian governement as well according to http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/16/mitchell.mideast/index.html. Israeli officials are also pushing the idea of stong, continued support from the international community, including the U.S. Personally, I feel that no matter what happens with the peace negotiations with the Iranians and the Palestinians, there will never be a continued and ever-lasting peace in the Middle East. Historically, most of the peace agreements do not completely stop the terrorist groups in other Middle East countries from attacking Israel, nor do they last more than a couple of years. The people of Israel know that the threat of attacks from terrorist groups and other countries is a persistent threat and have learned to live with it. It would be amazing if one day, a peace agreement in the region would stick, but I'm not holding my breath that this will happen anytime soon.

Foreign Minister Lieberman

Lieberman was one of the other candidates in the recent Israeli elections. He came in third in the elecetion according to http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/02/lieberman.israel/index.html. At the begining of April he was questioned for seven hours over whether or not he recieved a bribery under the cover of his daughter's business. Apparently Lieberman is a very controversial figure as he has been investigated by the police for thirteen years for other illegal business acts such as bribary and corruption (http://israelpolicyforum.ngphost.com/blog/lieberman-interrogated-allegations-corruption-and-bribery). I think it is horrible when politicians use their power to get ahead in their business adventures. Just because you are a law maker or a political figure does not mean that it is okay for you to break the laws of your country. I feel it is even worse than when company presidents and CEOs launder money and commit fraud. Both types of people should know better than to do such things, yet both still do them to get ahead and make more money. People need to learn that money isn't everything, but an abuse of power is wrong on all fronts. The people who cheat the system tend to be wealthy or well-off already and don't really need the money they steal. When will people learn that dignity and trustworthyness are so much more important than the material things in life?