Israel's "Barracuda"?

The recent terrorist events in Mumbai had a profound effect on the Israelis. Now that the details are revealed, the story of a young Rabbi and his wife that ran a local Jewish center is tragic. They volunteered to run a student center called the Chabad House in Mumbai which provided assistance to Jewish tourists and worked to help the poor in India. This young couple was in their late 20's and had a toddler son who thanks to an Indian nanny was pulled aside and rescued from being executed. His young parents were not so lucky. An autopsy revealed that the Rabbi and his wife were violently tortured before they were executed with a gun shot to the head. Four other Jews were killed the same way during that siege. The coroner that performed the autopsy said that he had never seen violence like that against a human being before, and never wants to even think about it again.

Jewish communities around the world are in shock and angry. And the Jews do not forget. The Mossad (Israel's CIA) is acknowledged to be the most competent intelligence agency in the world and anyone connected with this terrorist attack should consider updating their Last Will and Testament.

As a global political addict, and someone who has spent time in Israel, and for years conducted business with the Israelis, I have always been interested in the politics of the Middle East, especially since in many ways it is the root of Islamic extremism. Many conflicts involving radical Muslims lead back to Israel and the Palestinians. Starting with Jimmy Carter every President has cajoled, negotiated, shook hands, visited the holy land, signed agreements, and 30 years later here we are with zero progress - the Palestinians still hate the Israelis and vice verse.

Iran is now the major threat to Israel. They fund the terrorist groups Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon and have openly advocated the extinction of Israel. With Iran now close to the development of a nuclear bomb I am sure the Israelis feel their backs are against the wall. Their unofficial national slogan is, "There will NEVER be another holocaust" so I am sure they feel they must make a decision on the Iran issue soon. This week we read about Israel preparing for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities even without the USA. That is probably political bluster aimed at Iran and the incoming President Obama, but I believe this could be the next major world conflict and Obama's first real test as President. The truth be known, many Mideast countries are probably quietly in favor of an Iranian attack by Israel or the USA because they are afraid of Iran also.

Recently Ehud Olmert the Prime Minister of Israel has resigned while being investigated for corruption and his party elected Tzipi Livni as their leader and the new Prime Minister. Most Americans do not even know who Tzipi Livni is. She is not a career politician, but a former Mossad agent and she is a tough lady. Although she is called a "liberal", in Israel that has a much different meaning. Her mission is peace in a country that has been at war for 60 years. She has been the lead negotiator with Palestinians in the most recent peace negotiations and appears to be the first Israeli leader in many years willing to seriously compromise and do what is required to insure Palestine finally becomes an independent state.

But Israeli politics are different from ours, and she had to put together a majority coalition of other political parties in order to take charge, and she could not do that. Many "hard liners" are opposed to any concessions with the Palestinians, so new elections must be held in February, 2009. As a result, Obama does not even know who he will be dealing with as the Prime Minister of Israel. It appears to be a tossup as to who will be elected to the top spot in Israel next year. It could Livni and if so, we could see real progress towards peace in the Middle East for the first time in a half century. She will be fighting a "hard line" network in Israel and a "hard line" culture with Muslims who do not believe women are capable of anything.

Like Sarah Palin, Tzipi Livni could be a leader of the future. Who knows, maybe the women of this world can straighten things out - we men certainly do not have a very good track record.