By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
The US Presidential visit to Israel is fast approaching. Expectations are extremely low on many fronts. Two segments of this visit, however, have caught my attention.
The president of the United States of America will not address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Even Jimmy Carter addressed the Knesset. Instead, the wise men and women advising Barack Obama have told him to take the message to the Israeli people, not the politicians.
Obama will bypass the politicians who, like in every working democracy, can sometimes be pretty petty. But the Israeli Knesset represents the democracy of Israel. It is an institution. And that institution demands respect.
Not addressing the formal Knesset is an anti-democratic and a populist act. Not addressing the Knesset is an act of terrible disrespect for the election process. Obama may not like them, but the members of the Knesset are the people duly elected and chosen by Israelis to represent them and their ideals.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Presidential advance team has invited the newly crowned Miss Israel, Yitish Aynaw, more often called by her nick name Titi, to the grand gala hosted by Shimon Peres at the President's residence.
Titi hails from Ethiopia. As she put it: "Ten years ago I was walking around barefoot in Ethiopia and I never imagined that one day I would be in the Land of Israel, meeting the Israeli president and the president of the United States. I could never have imagined such a powerful and exciting situation."
Nay to politicians, Yea to beauty queens. That's the Obama presidency.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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