The relationship between the leaders of Israel and the United States is at its strongest point in decades, possibly ever. President Trump has fulfilled his promise to reverse the damage done by his predecessor in foreign affairs, particularly with certain allies like Israel. Now, the Prime Minister of Israel is calling for a nice tribute.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video Tuesday detailing his desire to honor the President following the Passover holiday.

I'm here on the beautiful Golan Heights. All Israelis were deeply moved when President Trump made his historic decision to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. pic.twitter.com/ikgZhA01lt

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) April 23, 2019

Opinion

When the President announced the need for America and the rest of the world to recognize the Golan Heights as a sovereign part of Israel, most on the right in both countries cheered. It was a departure from a long-standing policy, one that has been overdue in need of changing.

This gesture should not be dismissed. It’s significant because the United States has been one of the few allies for the Jewish state, but that status was put in jeopardy by President Obama who called for a return to the pre-1967 borders. Such a move would put Israel in a strategically untenable position, making it practically impossible for it to defend itself against attacks from the north.

Settlements in the region have been greatly misunderstood, mostly due to United Nations propaganda. These settlements are not intended as a middle finger of sorts towards the U.N. and all the nations calling for the land to be returned. It’s a strategic maneuver that empowers Israel to protect its vulnerable borders.

By naming a settlement after President Trump, Israel will help solidify the relationship for at least another two years and possibly much longer than that.

Quote

“Therefore, after the Passover holiday, I intend to bring to the government a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan Heights named after President Donald J. Trump.” – Benjamin Netanyahu

Final Thoughts

Israel is the one true democracy in the Middle East and the only ally in the region that shares our values. Our future is as tied to them as their future is tied to ours. It’s imperative that this relationship remains strong.

President Trump signed a memo yesterday alerting State and Homeland Security they have 120 days to come up with measures to address visa overstays, a large part of the illegal immigration problem facing the country. Within the frameworks of the current system, there’s no viable way to prevent people from staying in the country often they travel here on a temporary basis.

“We have laws that need to be followed to keep Americans safe and to protect the integrity of a system where, right now, there are millions of people who are waiting in line to come to America to seek the American Dream,” Trump said.

In 2018 alone, an estimate 415,000 people have remained in the country beyond what their visas allowed.

Opinion

The problem with a leaky dam is that you have to plug all the holes or the problem will keep getting worse. All of the focus for the past few months has been on the southern border because it’s the most visible hole in the system, but an argument can be made that the less visible visa overstay problem is actually bigger.

While a majority of those crossing the southern border illegally are from Mexico and Central America, there are people from across the world who use the porous border to sneak into the country. But with the visa program, a larger percentage of the people coming in and never leaving are from countries that have people who pose real threats to our security. It can be argued that from a terrorism-prevention perspective, addressing the visa overstay aspect of the problem is more important.

There’s another important angle to consider politically. As long as the focus by the administration is on the southern border, detractors of plans for the border wall and other security measures will point to visa overstays as an issue that remains unaddressed. They often argue that the President wants his “big, beautiful wall” as a symbolic tribute to bigotry but won’t look at the other aspects of the issue. Now, those arguments can be debunked.

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“Officials will target nations that have overstay rates greater than 10%. Those include Afghanistan, Angola, Bhutan, Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Georgia, Laos, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen, according to the most recent Department of Homeland Security data.” – Rob Crilly

Final Thoughts

Illegal immigration is a huge problem for America and it’s getting worse. It must be addressed holistically, and visa overstays have been ignored for far too long. This is a powerful move by the administration to fix the problem.

The clown car continues to fill up as a new Democrat announces their presidential campaign seemingly every week. This time, it’s Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA), marking the third politician from Massachusetts to vie for the top spot. He joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former Republican governor Bill Weld as hopefuls from The Bay State.

An Iraq War veteran from the U.S. Marines, Moulton led efforts to replace Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi once the Democrats won back control of the House last year. His politics are pretty much indistinguishable from other candidates as he favors Medicare-for-All, gun control, and other common leftist notions.

Moulton has a tall mountain to climb on the fundraising side if he hopes to make it to the main debate stage. There’s still time, but he’ll need to get some heavy attention very quickly to be able to make a serious run.

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Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton enters 2020 presidential race