Ambassador (Retired) Yoram Ettinger is an insider on US-Israel relations, Mideast politics and overseas investments in Israel's high tech. He is a consultant to members of the Israeli Cabinet and Knesset, and regularly briefs US legislators and their staff. A graduate of UCLA and undergraduate at UTEP, he served amongst other things, as Minister for Congressional Affairs at Israel's Embassy in Washington. He is the editor of "Straight from the Jerusalem Cloakroom and Boardroom" newsletters on issues of national security and overseas investments in Israel's high-tech.
Contrary to Palestinian claims, Arab residents west of the Jordan River (Judea, Samaria and pre-1967 Israel) are not descendants of the Canaanites, but of recent Arab migrants.
A unilateral application of Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, and additional parts of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria, would reinforce Israel's posture of deterrence
Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria highlights the synergy between the national security of the US and Israel, emphasizing Israel’s military and commercial contribution as the most effective US force-multiplier in the Middle
Ambassador Friedman is aware that Israel's control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria is a prerequisite for Israel's effective posture of deterrence
The relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is consistent with the US ethos from the 17th century Early Pilgrims and the 18th century Founding Fathers
Anyone ignoring Israel's unprecedented demographic tailwind, who suggests that an Arab demographic time bomb is haunting the Jewish State, is either dramatically mistaken or outrageously misleading
Moreover, it challenges the political correctness of the UN, the Department of State and the “elite” media, which have been serial blunderers on Middle East issues
Persisting in the commitment to a two-state-solution would cause President Trump to repeat, rather than avoid, the cardinal error of recent Presidents, who – unknowingly - attempted to extinguish fire with gasoline, not water
Relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem reflects a determination to avoid repeated errors, thus bolstering the US posture of deterrence, while complying with the US law of the land, and embracing the state-of-mind of most Americans
Policy-makers and public opinion-molders, who sacrifice the lessons of the past on the altar of oversimplification and wishful-thinking, are doomed to repeat past mistakes and suffer their dire consequences.
To defeat Islamic terrorism, Western societies must rid counter-terrorism of the "lone wolf" mentality; acknowledge the inherently non-compromising nature of Islamic terrorism and confront Islamic rogue regimes militarily, not diplomatically