An important speech by Netanyahu

It may be difficult for anyone who has never been to Israel to understand how vulnerable this tiny country is.  It is minuscule in size and if that alone is not enough it has a a population of 6 million surrounded by 180 million hostile, mostly unreasonable Muslims.  One more thing:  it is the only progressive democracy in the Middle East with the only thriving, dynamic economy.  While living amidst backward and hostile countries Israel also has to cope with a militant, medieval regime led by religious fanatics with hegemonic global aspirations.  Wow!  Over the last 60 years the Israelies have successfully beaten back three major attempts to annihilate them and yet have survived and prospered.  Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to the UN here, provides a brief history of the country, why it fears an Iran, and what it intends to do about the idea of terrorists and their sponsors actually becoming a nuclear powers.

Milton Friedman & Palestinian videos

This video from Hoover Institute via Powerline is a keeper.  As is this unrelated one on the Jewish/Arab imbroglio.

Unrest in Israel

An Israeli friend recently pointed out that the middle class unrest in Israel was a dangerous development with potentially disrupting consequences for that fledgling democracy.  He gave several reasons which did not comport with those in this analysis by Ran Baratz.  If one believes the Baratz analysis the problem is the incomplete transition from a socialist state to a free market economy begun a decade or so ago by Netanyahu when he was the Finance Director in Stone's cabinet.  Among the reasons for the unrest given by the Israeli friend was the polarization of wealth into the hands of a few families and the fact that costs of housing was almost prohibitively high.