Arab…Tourists?

Just one of the features of the still-shocking Abraham Accords—the business cooperation deal between Israel and many Middle East neighbors—is that people at odds for generations are now visiting each other. This new, open spirit of cooperation on a variety of fronts was driven by Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.

Imagine being an Israeli and boarding an airplane bound for a Gulf State, and being the first from your country to do it! That began to happen in 2020, as Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain entered into a close coordination the areas of business and tourism. Both those countries, for the first time, recognized Israel’s sovereignty. After 70 years of vicious relations, the whole thing seemed like a dream. Incredibly, by the end of that year, Morocco joined the accords and one month later, so did Sudan! There were Western enticements, such as the U.S. dropping Sudan from a list of terrorist states.

The Accords have the potential to turn the Middle East into a financial paradise, and it’s hard to imagine other countries standing on the sidelines forever. It would be glorious, for example, if Lebanon could join the party at some point. It will require further marginalizing the haters, such as the PLO and Hamas. One wonders if Palestinian society has been too indoctrinated by hate, but we can hope that is not the case.

While Israelis have been visiting other countries, there have been overtures that encourage Arabs to visit Israel. Remember, Egypt’s Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem in 1977, a political earthquake that had long-term implications. Things may move slowly in the Middle East, but things eventually happen that are good.

Recenty, an Israeli contingent attended the Jerusalem Post Global Investment Forum in Marrakech, Morocco. Eilat’s Deputy Mayor Matan Be’eri (his family is from Morocco) spoke of Israel’s marvelous sites. According to the Jerusalem Post:

“Be’eri recounted the city’s advantages, including its shared borders with Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the coral reef, the Red Mountains, cycling routes, the warm and sunny climate and the many music festivals held in the city.

“He also emphasized the fact that Eilat is considered to be the most liberal tourist city in the Middle East. Be’eri outlined goals for the city in aviation, tourism, medicine and innovation and invited conference participants to create collaborations between investors and countries to realize the vision and make history together.”

Be’eri took part in a tourism panel with Jalil Benabbes-Taarji, the former president of the Moroccan National Association of Investors in Tourism. As Be’eri emphasized Israel’s common borders with a host of Arab countries, Benabbes-Taarji did likewise for Morocco, pointing out its proximity to Europe (a popular tourist destination for many Israelis, despite the experiences of World War 2).

Eilat of course is one of the jewels of the region, at Israel’s southernmost tip. The Red Sea, diving sites, luxury hotels and the like attract many thousands each year.

Another key element in Israel’s business/tourism arsenal is the development of medical tourism. Even now, Arabs in the region can travel to Israel and receive state-of-the-art treatment for a variety of ailments. I’ve toured Tel-Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center and discrimination based on nationality does not exist there. This is resonating with longtime enemies. There is one more enticement for new audiences:

“Be’eri promoted the new international airport near Timna and stated that it can be a gateway to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, both for mass transportation and for transporting goods from around the world through Eilat.”

Now, one could be guilty of naivete, in the same way perhaps Shimon Peres was (I believe his vision of a new Middle East was once described as a “Maginot Line of five-star hotels,” hardly an enticement for career terrorists to give up their ways). Still, as my late friend and mentor David Lewis said often, “A cold peace is better than no peace at all.” That’s why David enthusiastically supported the peace agreements between Egypt and Jordan.

All this is a reminder to us that there are good things going on in the troubled region between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

I do sincerely believe we should hope and pray for more opportunities like this, so that more and more people see the benefits of behaving themselves and realizing the enormous possibilities.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Dogfights

As the world descends farther into the pit of madness, it becomes harder and harder to wrest anything good from the evil leaders spread across the globe. If a political candidate is committed to restoring American jobs by emphasizing drilling for oil, he is harassed by the Media, political hacks, and—most critically—left-leaning evangelical leaders like Russell Moore. Each gain is exhausting. Constant vigilance is required in order to hold the Left at bay.

In such cases, we are reminded that too often, others who meant it for evil have too much control over our lives.

It’s the same in Israel. Following the meddling, mendacious Middle East policies of the Marxist Barack Obama, his illegitimate heir, Joe Biden, is doing the same thing to Israel. Meddling in Israeli politics is nothing new. Bill Clinton did it 30 years ago, sending emissaries to set up camp during campaigns for prime minister, with the aim of undermining Benjamin Netanyahu. Obama did the same thing, actively committing money and manpower to try and influence elections in the Jewish state.

Biden is doing the same thing now, and a key sentence in a recent Jerusalem Post report highlights this extraordinary evil.

“Various reports since Netanyahu’s election victory claim the former prime minister is mindful of US concerns over the potential appointments of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir as ministers in his government.”

What we are talking about here is the negotiations taking place between Netanyahu and coalition partners, attempting to cobble together a majority in the Knesset. A best-case scenario is that the government will hold 64 seats. Itamar Ben-Gvir is the new “prince,” a powerful right-wing partner that seems to be to the right of the Likud. Ben-Gvir, head of Otzma Yehudit, wanted to partner with the Religious Zionist Party headed by MK Bezalel Smotrich. Now that is in question, I think primarily because Netanyahu is feeling heat from Washington; Smotrich is a bridge too far for them, because he is a committed Zionist.

The Religious Zionist Party wants the Defense portfolio.

According to the Post:

“Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu should appoint politicians that the US government can work with to the roles of defense minister and public security minister, President Joe Biden’s administration told the incoming Israeli prime minister according to a Ynet report on Tuesday morning.

“The US claims that it is a security issue, and is not seeking to interfere in local politics. In order for the security cooperation between Israel and the US to succeed Israel needs to carefully consider to will be appointed to those positions, the Biden administration told Netanyahu, according to the Ynet report.

“Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich has been lobbying for the defense portfolio, and Oztmah Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir has been seeking the position of Public Security Minister.”

It is a lie that this is a security issue. What is meant by that, officially, coming from the U.S.’s corrupt State Department, is that right-wingers like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are too tough on the Palestinians.

They should be tough. For 30 years, the Palestinian terror network has murdered and maimed thousands of Israelis. As always, my personal priority is the safety and security of the Jews. Everyone else is way down the priority list.

The regime in Washington is evil.

“Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are widely considered controversial political figures, the latter having been condemned by the US for attendance at a rabbi Meir Kahane memorial.

“’Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent – there is no other word for it,’ State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday.”

That’s rich, coming from the Democrats, who greenlit anything the serial killer Yasser Arafat wanted to do. Make no mistake, Democrat leadership in Washington does not like Israel, and Jewish deaths are not a tragedy to them. So Price’s words are Soviet-style propaganda.

(Kahane, a fierce Zionist and one-time Knesset member, was deemed a terrorist by globalists. He was assassinated in 1990 by an Egyptian.)

I don’t think anytime soon the globalists will stop meddling in Israeli affairs. I hope Netanyahu will resist Washington’s clumsy-but-problematic attempts at interfering in Israeli politics.

As always, let us pray to the Lord that He will continue thwarting the plans of the wicked. Especially those against His people.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com