Dear Barack… Love, Shaul

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Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz published an open letter to Barack Obama in today’s Jerusalem Post, reminding the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate that Israel’s struggle for its survival is not yet over.

And if anyone’s wondering about the halting pace of progress in the development of Israel’s transportation infrastructure, it’s probably because the transportation minister is more concerned with rockets in Iran than trains in Jerusalem: “The only truly important issue for the State of Israel has been and will continue to be our ability to continue living and surviving here as a people,” Mofaz said.

The Post’s Calev Ben-David says Obama’s real greeting to Israel came yesterday in the form of a Jerusalem terrorist attack within sight of his hotel in the city, when an Arab from eastern Jerusalem went on a bulldozer rampage.

That terrorist’s message?

His message to you was that some things are not negotiable, and some people do not really wish to be negotiated with, at least not on any terms but their own; that Israel’s crime is not what it does or where its borders are, but its very existence; and that no matter which president sits in the White House, those basic – or, one might say, sacred – principles will remain unchanged.

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