Timothy Head Fox News Op-Ed: United States Has No Better Friend Than Prime Minister Netanyahu

Duluth, GA – Fox News published the following op-ed from Faith & Freedom Coalition Executive Director Tim Head on the long-standing partnership between the United States and Israel and how the re-election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is good news for the United States.

The apparent victory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s national election is good news for the United States.

Nearly final results of Israel’s election last week show that Netanyahu’s Likud Party captured 36 seats in the nation’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. No party has ever won an outright majority in the Knesset, so parties must form coalitions with other parties to govern. Thanks to the support of other smaller conservative and Jewish religious parties, Netanyahu is expected to put together a coalition controlling 65 seats, keeping him in office.

Netanyahu is a true friend of America, having lived here for many years. He and President Trump have established the strongest working relationship between leaders of our two nations since the creation of modern-day Israel in 1948, and America could not have a better ally.

President Trump is more popular in Israel than even in the United States, with a Pew poll late last year finding that 82 percent of Jewish Israelis have confidence in his handling of global affairs and 94 percent have a favorable view of the U.S.

At Netanyahu’s election victory party, many Israelis wore pro-Trump apparel and shouted pro-America chants in celebration of the Trump-Netanyahu relationship continuing.

In addition to cooperation with the U.S. on military and national security issues, Israel is a leader in innovations in technology, medicine, and many other fields, making discoveries and producing new products that benefit people in the U.S. and around the world. As the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel shares important values with the American people.

Israel and the United States have served as strategic allies in the Middle East and across the globe since President Harry Truman first recognized the Jewish state 71 years ago.

The alliance has continued through defensive wars Israel has fought, through decades of terrorist attacks on the small nation, and through Israel’s show of solidarity with the United States after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Israel has shared valuable knowledge about dealing with terrorism with U.S. law enforcement agencies and our military, once again proving its value as a close ally.

President Trump is more popular in Israel than even in the United States, with a Pew poll late last year finding that 82 percent of Jewish Israelis have confidence in his handling of global affairs and 94 percent have a favorable view of the U.S.

The election of President Trump was a real game-changer that strengthened U.S.-Israel ties more than ever before.

Trump administration policies that have benefitted both the U.S. and Israel include: moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the Israel’s eternal capital of Jerusalem; withdrawing from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal; just recently recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in 1967 when it was attacked by Syria; and standing up to Iran and its global agenda of support for terrorism by branding the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

In addition, the Trump administration has been a staunch defender of Israel at the United Nations, which routinely demonizes Israel and passes resolution after resolution critical of the Jewish state – while ignoring far worse behavior by many other nations.

Recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense and to live in peace and security, President Trump has not pressured Israel to make dangerous concessions that would endanger its citizens. And Trump has strongly urged Palestinians to end terrorist attacks on Israel and negotiate a peaceful settlement with the Israelis to end decades of hostility. We all await the peace plan he will soon propose.

Domestically, President Trump has strongly condemned anti-Semitism in the U.S., which is often disguised today as opposition to Israel’s policies dealing with the Palestinians.

The Jewish homeland of Israel serves as the cradle of both Judaism and Christianity. This God-given biblical relationship between Christians and Jews drives Americans of faith to stand firm in their support of Israel to ensure the survival of the Jews and the existence of their state.

Americans of faith recognize Israel’s struggle for what it should be for all the world’s citizens –an effort to maintain free and open access to the holy sites of the world’s monotheistic faiths, and a struggle to build a beacon of democracy and hope in a region that has for too long known far too much bloodshed and hatred.

With Netanyahu now almost certain to stay in office for a fifth term, his partnership with President Trump can continue for the benefit of both nations. America has no better friend in the international community than Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has no better friend among world leaders than President Trump.