RUTHFULLY YOURS

JERUSALEM – Recent events in the Middle East are a reminder of how the old models of peace between Israel and the Palestinians are no longer relevant.

The time has come to rethink the two-state solution.

This past summer, Hamas and its allies fired over 4,500 rockets and mortars at Israel, demonstrating once again what happens when we evacuate territory to the so-called 1967 lines and hand it over to our adversaries. Peace is not obtained. Rather, we are met by war and bloodshed.

The rise of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and other extreme elements in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, make the risks just as clear. Israel cannot afford to gamble with its security. There are no second chances in the volatile Middle East.

That is why, for its security, Israel cannot withdraw from more territory and cannot allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank. If we were to pull out of the West Bank, the entire country would become a target for terrorists who would be able to set up rocket launchers adjacent to the Old City of Jerusalem and on the hills above the runways of Ben-Gurion International Airport and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Take the Jordan Valley. The Palestinians demand that Israel withdraw from this narrow piece of land, which borders Jordan. But if we do so in today’s climate, we potentially open the door for the Islamic State and other extremists to flood into the new Palestinian state. We cannot take that risk.

How do I know? Because it happened. Not once, not twice, but three times.

Barack Obama may pay lip service to working with Republicans, but we know he’ll ultimately ram-rod to implement policies he hopes will transform America, actually damage her. Mr. Obama came to America with a chip on his shoulder, and that splinter remains despite Americans twice electing him. A man with a gracious and forgiving nature would have been moved by this outpouring; yet, despite all this, he seems unable to shed himself of his anti-Americanism, revealing a lack of charitable character.

So, how will Americans protect themselves from his arbitrary Executive Orders that undoubtedly fall beyond his Constitutional limits? How will we be saved from Orders of a fascist nature rarely seen before in American history, such as wholesale amnesty, treaties designed to help Iran manufacture the nuclear bombs that will one day be used against us, or his tying the hands of law enforcement trying to stop domestic jihadism? Congress can impeach, but they probably won’t. They can turn off the monetary spigot, but that’s no guarantee of stopping Obama… after all, money is fungible.

One of the surprise outcomes of Tuesday’s election were the governorships won by Republicans, often in Democratic states. Be it Obamacare, protecting state borders, minimizing illegals, guaranteeing free speech, religious and business rights, outlawing shariah law, or standing by law enforcement, governors and state legislatures have the ability to tell Obama and the Feds: “Not in my backyard.”

The one thing separating the rights and safety of citizens within a state from the indignities and transformation edicts of Mr. Obama and his Attorney General are the state governors. Governors are the firewall between citizens and a lording Obama. Indeed, the Founding Fathers wished it that way, giving states and local officials greater say in the lives of citizens within their state jurisdiction. It is a Constitutional imperative. That is what state’s rights – our rights – are all about. These rights safeguard us from the tyrannical man the Founding Fathers feared in Mr. Obama.