Our Western leaders make decisions that affect their citizens but not themselves.
There was a story told of an early chassidic master. He was beloved by many and they tried to honor him in every way. Once, they brought him a pair of golden shoes. The rabbi in question was moved by the expensive and beautiful present. He wore the shoes but unbeknownst to most others, he removed the soles. He wanted to walk barefoot on the gravel like the poor of his town did.
Israel is basking in the return of hostages as per the ceasefire agreement recently signed. A relative of one released hostage said on the news that he would “go after” anyone who voted against the deal. He apparently meant the right-wing party of Itamar Ben-Gvir that voted against it and promptly left the government when the deal was put into motion. Everybody wants the hostages home, and everyone is happy to see the reunions of abductees with their long-suffering families. Why couldn’t this fellow just express his gratitude and joy and not threaten those whose views are different from his own? The answer is that he lives in the here and now and could not care what happens next.
When people began to be killed and wounded by the terrorists released in the Gilad Schalit deal, the Schalit family did not come to their funerals or their bedside. They did not publicly apologize for their part in the suffering and destruction others experienced as a part of getting their son home. Ditto for the politicians like Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu and Shimon Peres who greased the wheels for the release of over 1,000 terrorists for the soldier who left the safety of his tank and was promptly captured by Hamas terrorists who had overrun his base. The problem then and today is that those who push for the immediate gratification of seeing released Israelis will not be around if God forbid something goes sideways with the thousands they are releasing this time around. One only has to remember that Yahya Sinwar was in the Schalit release cohort to understand that not all of those released have to go back to terror in order to bring large-scale destruction.
And while many of the worst terrorists released this time are being shuffled off to Egypt, Turkey and points beyond, some are being deposited in the West Bank. I am praying fervently that they should harm no one. But if they should go back to terror, will Bibi and those in his cabinet who supported the deal come to comfort the mourners? Will they go from hospital to hospital to rend their clothes before the wounded: “How could we have been so foolish to release so many ticking time-bombs?” Of course not. They do not consider the potential outcomes of their actions because those outcomes are in the future and for somebody else. Today we want to celebrate, so let’s bring the hostages home. The next phase of the deal would require Israel to remove all of its troops from Gaza. Hamas could start its weapons import business again via Egypt and Israelis would have to wonder if they should go back to living within motorcycle or glider distance of an invigorated Gaza terror base. Certain cabinet members are pushing for Israel to follow through on the next phase of the deal. They live in Jerusalem and one of them has a summer home up north. Rockets from Gaza are not his problem.
And this theme is typical for left-leaning governments in the West. Those in Europe who spawned the tractor protests don’t own farms whose utility will be damaged by the demands of the World Economic Forum for less nitrogen in the air. They have no cows whose flatulence has been ridiculously accused of being a threat to mankind. In the U.S., the Bidens, Kerrys, and Obamas never had to deal with illegal aliens in their neighborhoods. Whether eggs were a dozen for a dollar or $12 for one, it made no difference to these fabulously wealthy politicians and their even more wealthy supporters in Silicon Valley and New York. Decisions for you are being made by them and they couldn’t care less about the ramifications of those decisions. You will have to deal with people being pushed in front of subway trains in New York or your children being brainwashed at school about trans nonsense. They will never feel the sharp end of their actions.
And thus it is a pleasant surprise to see President Donald Trump throw illegal aliens, including many criminals, out of the country. It is a breath of fresh air to have a president who ignores environmental nonsense and directs water to southern California and demands more energy production. It is a joy to see a president put both enemies and trading partners on notice that their actions will be for the benefit of the U.S.—or else! When the president visited with disaster victims in California and North Carolina, one had the impression that, like the great rabbi with the golden shoes sans soles, the president felt like one of those affected by the fire and floods. He directed actions that would benefit these people as he himself would want if his home had been burned to the ground or taken downstream after the hurricane. President Trump has taken numerous actions in only a few days that benefit normal Americans, the kind who have been generally ignored when previous administrations simply caused food and energy prices to go up, without any thought as to the impact on citizens of printing too much money or taking hydrocarbon production offline. President Trump’s actions are for the benefit of the citizens. Yes, illegal aliens and trans soldiers are not benefiting, but the president was elected to serve the American people and not niche Democratic constituencies.
In Israel, the latest scandal has the prison services using female soldiers to guard and interact with the “Nukhba” terrorists from October 7th. Many of these women have complained of sexual harassment at the hands of these rapists and murderers. Their commanders have tried to smother the complaints, and only through the single conservative television station in the country was the story broken. They are talking about dozens of women who were sexually assaulted while guarding and otherwise feeding, treating, and tending to the same people we were promised would be killed for participating in the largest murder of Jews since the Holocaust. There were men guarding them, but the Israeli guards may have abused some of the detainees. The unit was disbanded and women were put in place of the men. Would the person who made that decision send his daughter to guard those beasts? Of course not.
Until our leaders either live among the people or think like citizens do, we will be subjected to rulings that affect the regular folks but not those who promulgated those rulings. A leader like Trump thinks about what his actions will do to the average American. A leader like Biden thinks how an action will enrich his family, while Bibi thinks about how he can remain prime minister. Only one of them is truly a leader, as his actions are for the benefit of those who put him into office.