Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Leader of the Free World

Given the glaring vacuum of leadership from the current occupant of the White House, it could be argued that the de facto leader of the free world today is the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanayhu.

Here is his great speech at the United Nations on Sept. 24, 2009 after the sickening spectacle of Iran's president spewing anti-Semitic rants in the tradition of Hitler and Amalek the previous day. He addresses the issue of the reality of the Holocaust and the threat to the world from Iran. He argues that the real clash is not between faiths, but between civilization and barbarism.

If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, I recommend you watch the first part. The full transcript is here.









And here is Netanayhu as a 28 year old student in the US, where he graduated from MIT. He went under the name of Nitay for security reasons. His brother Yonaton, a commando, had recently been killed in the Israeli rescue mission in Entebbe. In this clip, the 28 year old Netanayhu gives a tremendous account of history and clear-sighted political analysis. He is a voice of truth.



Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East with full human rights for its citizens. It is a beacon of civilization and liberty that must not be allowed to be extinguished. Netanyahu is right that the consequences of such a horrible thing would be of great danger and harm for all of Western civilization and not for Israel or Jews only.

If only the United States has a president with moral clarity, a grasp of history and a passionate commitment to liberty, justice and the defense of all that is good in our cultural traditions.

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