The fact there has not been a landslide victory for Joe Biden has left the self-proclaimed political experts in shock.
"How is that possible?" they ask? After all polls showed Biden headed for a decisive win over the incumbent, a standup comedian of sorts, untrustworthy and crazy, some even say racist president. It is time, they say, to unite the divided country and Biden is the man for the job.
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U.S. President Donald Trump at a final election Rally in Florida on Monday
(Photo: AP)
If we were American citizens with the right to vote, we would have been praising the economy under the Trump administration, but as Israelis we must concentrate on the president's policy towards Israel. On any U.S. president's policy, not just Trump's.
In that regard, Trump has been a star. He has succeeded fabulously. More than any of his predecessors.
Democratic ex-President Barack Obama, who had answered the call to help his former VP across the finish line, had been a Nobel Peace laureate, despite having brought about no peace, anywhere in the world and certainly not in the Middle East.
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The White House ceremony for the peace agreement between Israel and the UAE and normalization of relations with Bahrain in September
(Photo: GPO)
But Obama enjoyed massive popularity among Americans, the media and the Nobel committee and that has not helped Israel at all.
Trump, the bad boy, brought Israel three peace agreements with more countries lining up to do the same, leaving the Palestinians, the naysayers, cast to the side. For years everyone has said that for Israel peace with other Arab countries is impossible as long as the Palestinian issue persists. Trump managed to achieve that, Still, no Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump is unlikable and people like to dislike him. But on Tuesday, Americans have shown they do like their president.
They did not cast him out, they ignored the media pundits, criticism of him, they ignored the New York Times, and CNN and followed their own hearts. He might not emerge victorious, but he gave it his all and definitely wasn't obliterated like many had predicted.
Finally, trump was the only president, out of long line of U.S. leaders who made similar promises, to actually move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was also the first to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the Golan Heights as being under our sovereignty.
He may not have greenlit Israel's annexation of West Bank settlements but has stopped the practice of opposing every Israeli construction in the area.
Biden, we can already be sure, will bring the Palestinian issue back on the agenda, and will likely suspend any further peace agreements with moderate Arab nations in the region.
We would fair far better with a friend in the White House, even if his character is not beyond reproach.