Israel/Palestine

I recently spoke with a friend whose husband is from Israel and has family there. They met many years ago when she went to Israel to work on a kibbutz, as quite a few US Jewish citizens did years ago. He came to the US and they married and live here. But they are worried about family in Israel because they do not feel safe and want to leave. The family has a small business but cannot hire help because many young people are off fighting with the IDF and the Palestinians who used to come from Gaza and work in Israel every day are now dead or not allowed out of Gaza.

I think tourism to Israel has mostly stopped, and it appears that Israel will not be safe for years to come. Netanyahu’s depredations on Gaza and now his wider war on the region are causing him and Israel to lose much of the world’s approval, which cannot be good for Israel’s future. Unfortunately, the MAGA types are in control, and violence seems baked into their psyches.