Keeping Tabs on US Politics

I have carefully avoided being directly critical of US President Trump even during these last few weeks where he has upended the world’s economy, created fiscal apprehension across the continents with his inconsistent tariff policy and moved America to a country that snatches people off the streets and ships them to a prison in another country without even the semblance of due process.

However, his Easter message posted on Truth Social, his own version of X, provides such a disturbing insight into his warped mind that one has to read it a few times to get its full impact.  It is provided here verbatim as it appears on line.

“Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country. Happy Easter also to the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent that it will never be forgotten! Sleepy Joe Biden purposefully allowed Millions of CRIMINALS to enter our Country, totally unvetted and unchecked, through an Open Borders Policy that will go down in history as the single most calamitous act ever perpetrated upon America. He was, by far, our WORST and most Incompetent President, a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing — But to him, and to the person that ran and manipulated the Auto Pen (perhaps our REAL President!), and to all of the people who CHEATED in the 2020 Presidential Election in order to get this highly destructive Moron Elected, I wish you, with great love, sincerity, and affection, a very Happy Easter!!!”

This, from the most powerful politician in the world, the presumed leader of the free world and the guardian of democracy.

Those of us who live here in Israel could say, “Who cares?  He is not our president.” While that may be true factually, for the foreseeable future our continued success as a country is significantly dependent on our positive relationship with the US.

For example, in an April 7^th item written by the Times of Israel staff, it was stated: “As many as 26,000 Israelis stand to lose their jobs if US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new economic policy, under which Israeli goods face a 17 percent tariff, remains unchanged, the Manufacturers Association of Israel warned on Sunday, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for Washington. … According to an analysis published by the association and presented to Netanyahu, Israeli exports will take an annual $2.3 billion hit from the tariffs if they remain at 17%, and between 18,000 and 26,000 Israelis could lose their jobs.”

So, while he may not be our president, we are very much affected by what he does and does not do.  And this is just one example.

In the geopolitical arena we have also seen regular waffling on how the US President sees the importance of ensuring that Iran does not achieve nuclear defense capability.  At one point all of us here believed that the US would be a partner with us if Iran’s nuclear facilities were to be attacked.  Then we hear the President say that if there was an attack, Israel would lead it, thus throwing into question how much support we would get from the US.   Finally, at a press conference in the Oval Office during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington two weeks ago, the President announced his desire to pursue diplomacy with Iran to avoid a war.

Diplomacy with Iran?  Hasen’t the west been down that path before?

In spite of the President’s constant criticism of his recent predecessors, wouldn’t it be ironic if what America ended up with as a result would be a virtual carbon copy of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) developed during the Obama years, which Trump himself abandoned at the beginning of his first term.  In a release from the White House in May 2018 Trump said “The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”  The west should certainly not go down that path again but, stranger things have happened, for sure.

The point here is clear. While we may be living here it behooves us to be fully aware of what is going on politically in the US as how much of what we do, day to day, is affected by decisions made there.

It would be great if that were not the case.  And from time to time, we do act to bolster our own capabilities to avoid dependency on another country.  The emergence of our aeronautics industry and the emergence of Israeli Aerospace Industries as a world leader in the field is a good example.  Hopefully the current destruction of the world order will be a catalyst for us here in Israel to move in this direction yet again, adding to our growing independence.  Until then, we need to be very aware of what is happening worldwide that can seriously impact our future here.