President Obama Not Entering a Rose Garden

President Roosevelt faced the Great Depression during his first term and Second World War during his third term.  President Obama will face simultaneously - upon entering the White House – the most severe economic recession since Roosevelt and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as World War Three against Islamic terrorism and a series of additional severe challenges/threats domestically and internationally.

McCain – Is It Mission Impossible?

Senator McCain is facing the roughest hurdles ever encountered by a presidential candidate.

Obama, McCain and Israel's National Security

The policy of US presidents, toward Israel, is a derivative of their worldview, and not of their campaign statements and position papers.

A worldview shapes presidential attitude toward Israel as a strategic asset or a liability and toward Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria and the Golan Heights.  A presidential worldview determines the scope of the US posture of deterrence in face of Middle East and global threats, which directly impacts Israel's national security.

Jewish Impact on US Democracy

Intense Jewish participation in US elections has been nurtured by home-court conditions: The US considers Judaism a key factor in the foundation of its cultural, ideological, legal and political systems. The trilateral covenant among the US, the Jewish People and the Jewish State was established by the Puritans during the 17^th century, expanded by the Founding Fathers and sustained until today.

Obama’s Advisors – A Source for Concern

Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, is not a key member of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations, Armed Services of Intelligence.  He has not initiated/led any significant legislation and has not devoted himself to national security issues. He surged into the Senate and the presidential race from the Illinois local-political-social arena.  Obama relies on a battery of experienced advisors, who influence/shape his world view and maybe even US policy and US-Israel relations for the next 4-8 years.  However, the record of his advisors – most of them served in the Carter and Clinton Administrations – constitutes a source for concern.

Obama’s Unprecedented Test

The current indicators of the presidential race bode well for Barak Obama, provided that he deduces the proper lessons from previous campaigns.

Israel Central Bureau of Panic

In 1900, British experts projected that the large number of horse carriages in London would cause the city to be flooded by horse manure in 1950.  They did not comprehend the socio-economic trends of 1900, did not realize the potency of the technological and transportation revolution, and erroneously assumed that human-kind and nature evolve in a predictable-linear fashion.

This is the fate of projections, such as the one made by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), expecting the Jewish sector to decline – and the Arab sector to expand – by 5% in 2030.  Since 1948, many ICBS projections have been crashed against the rocks of reality, due to erroneous demographic assumptions.

The Palestinian Census - Smoke & Mirrors

The 2007Palestinian census is not a cause for fatalism.  In contrast with the census, the accurate number of Judea & Samaria Arabs is 1.5MN, and not 2.3MN, and the number of Gaza Arabs is 1.1MN, and not 1.5MN.

The Palestinian census is refuted by Palestinian, Israeli and international documentation of birth, death, migration, first-graders and eligible voter registration in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, which has been systematically conducted by the Bennett Zimmerman-led "American-Israeli Demographic Research Group" (AIDRG). 

President Bush’s Visit – A Fumbled Opportunity

President Bush visits Jerusalem, in order to advance Israeli-Palestinian negotiation, while the US economy is shaky, the 2008 election shifts to a higher gear, the GOP is in disarray and the international arena is boiling.  Unfortunately, President Bush will not focus on the US-Israel strategic cooperation in face of mutual, clear and imminent threats such as Iran, Islamic terrorism, rogue regimes, ballistic missiles and the growing destabilizing Russian intervention in the Middle East.

The Prime Minister is Mistaken and Misleading

Prime Minister Olmert contends that the Jewish State must retreat from Judea & Samaria, lest it share the fate of South Africa. President Bush said in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Oct. 3, 2007) and in NYC (Sept. 26, 2007) that Israeli leaders told him that a giveaway of Judea & Samaria would spare the Jewish State a demographic calamity. Mr. Prime Minister, you are mistaken and misleading!