Have any of you guys ever actually visited Israel?
Tel Aviv is amazing. Its a vibrant modern city, the equal of Sydney. When you're there its impossible to believe you are actually in the middle east sorrounded by enemies with rockets trained on you.
Israel is one of the only economies in the world that continued to grow during the financial crisis and along with Australia it has one of the best performing property markets in the world.
Israel has the second most companies listed on the Nasdaq after the United States and has lead the world in advances in solar, cellular, computer chip, agricultural and medical technology. You wouldn't find an Israeli who hasn't had an education.
It is quite incredible that after only 60 years of existence and its main priority being defence and having been at war and under constant pressure from the outside world, that it has achieved so much.
When you see the WALL and checkpoints, it becomes quite obvious why it is there. Because if the Israelis were to allow the Palestinians to move around unrestricted in Israel, Israeli's wouldn't feel safe living in Israeli as its almost certain that suicide bombings would resume and the modern cities and society that Israel has created would be attacked. Basically why allow someone who wants to destroy you to come into your home so they can destroy you?
When I arrived at Tel Aviv airport and saw how modern the roads, parks, trains, buses, and communications system were,the extensive property development being undertaken wherever I turned, the then how vibrant the neighbourhoods and central business district were I realised the Jews would never, ever give any of that away. The reality is, would you give the house you built away? The answer is most people wouldn't.
So there will probably end up being a war there, as there is no common ground. But if you look at the history of mankind, this is nothing new. There are conflicts taking place all over the world and have been for thousands of years to settle disputes. That unfortunately is just human nature so am not sure why people get so emotional about this particular conflict.
But one thing I can tell you, is that without Israel, the world would lose a valuable contributor to the technological advances the world has made and we will all be worse off for that. Israeli's are the smartest, most educated people in the world.
