Thoughts for the New Year

January 1. Not the Jewish New Year but nevertheless a good opportunity for reflection, resolution and hopes for a better 2007.

So how have we started 2007 in Israel?

The Iranian threat... More Lebanon War fallout... Will the IDF be able to recover and implement the expected reforms?

When will Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev come home?

And we’ve just given another 2,000 guns to the Palestinians, who continue to fire Kassam rockets at Sderot and Ashkelon.

Oh, and we haven’t had nearly enough rain yet...

But what’s new?

How did we start 1997?

Iraq expelled members of the U.S. nuclear inspection team... The IDF redeployed in Hebron... “New wave of terrorism feared”... And PM Netanyahu said this after an Israeli soldier opened fire at Palestinians in Hebron on January 1, 1997:

“I again call on all Palestinians and Israelis, inside and outside of Hebron, to act and demonstrate responsibility and restraint. We have to live side by side with each other. This has been ordained by history and by geography. We have to do so in security and coexistence. The way of peace is the only way to assure that we achieve these aims, it is our only alternative.”

Plus la change, plus la meme chose.

Or as King Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

On the other hand...

The number of new immigrants from the U.S. and U.K. reached a 20-year high in 2006... The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange rose 2% today... and Shachar Pe’er, our international tennis star (ranked 20^th in the world), began the year with a win!

But let’s face it. In 2007, as in 1997, and really since 1948, there are seemingly no convincing military or political solutions on the horizon.

The solution is evidently beyond the bounds of natural courses or causes... yes, as we have learnt throughout our turbulent history, the people of Israel would be wise to look heavenwards for salvation.

Happy New Year!