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Source: http://jewishjournal.com/columnist-2/editors-note/239721/israeli-voters-stubborn/
Netanyahu Describes Israel's Reality
(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) David Suissa - In his speech last week at the UN, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out in excruciating detail the growing security threats against the Jewish state, his supporters didn't see fearmongering, they saw reality. Even Ha'aretz called it "one of his most convincing and effective performances," which included "a precise and credible indictment against Iran." It's difficult for Americans to fully comprehend the transcendent importance Israelis place on their security. From a safe distance, while we may see conflicts to resolve, Israelis see enemies at their doorstep sworn to their destruction. They see their democracy in a continuous state of war. The real miracle of Israel is precisely that it has managed to create a thriving and open civil society despite being under siege from genocidal enemies. This is a resilient society whose culture of innovation influences virtually the entire planet and that consistently beats the U.S., the UK and France on the UN's annual "Happiness Report." We can rail, for example, against the failure of Israel to make peace with the Palestinians, but it's not as if Israelis don't want peace. Maybe they're more in tune with the existential danger of the West Bank turning into another terror state, or the reality that Jew-hating Palestinian leaders are loath to sign any deal that recognizes a Jewish state, regardless of where the borders are drawn.