Reason to be hopeful

Editorial

President Barack Obama's stirring inaugural address must certainly have reassured Israel – and all who care about Israel's well-being – that the new president is at least as committed as the outgoing one to the values for which Israel stands.

"Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred," Obama said, and there can be no doubt that Israel is both the frontline in this war and the greatest ally America has in that battle.

Notwithstanding the somewhat ridiculous idea, posited by some commentators in recent days, that Israel sped up the Gaza action to completion before the new president took power, Obama will likely be as good a friend to Israel as any of those who came before him. Israel certainly had nothing to fear from Obama, like the Iranian hostage-takers did in 1981, freeing their captives the moment the formidable hawk Ronald Reagan came to office.

In fact, some of Obama's words could have come from the mouths of almost any Israeli leader. At one point, Obama was speaking to all range of terrorists, but his words should have had resonance for anyone who has watched the recent confrontation with Gaza's murderers of civilians in recent weeks.

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you," said Obama. The words could have been those of an Israeli leader.

"To the Muslim world," he went on, "we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Is this not the message Israel has always sent?

On the integrated issue of energy self-sufficiency and the natural environment, Obama made clear the connection between America's dependence on foreign oil and the threats that face his country, ours and Israel.

".... [T]he ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet," Obama said, drawing the direct connection that far too many miss between reliance on Middle East oil and the empowerment of political forces opposed to the politics and values that reflect not just Democrats or Republicans, Liberals or Conservatives, Labor, Likud or Kadima, but all people who participate in and support pluralism and democracy.

Perhaps the most pointed statement the new president made – and with the former president sitting nearby – was the unsubtle repudiation of the outgoing administration's assaults on the Constitution, from the outsourcing of torture to the abandonment of due process for the accused.

"As for our common defence," said the new president, "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."

At a time when hope may seem a frail crutch, Obama clings to it and spreads it. Given the economic challenges, to put it mildly, facing the new administration, Obama's ability to blast Americans' confidence and hope skyward, while almost certain to result in some degree of disappointment at some point in the future, will have a measurable effect on the economy.

While "hope" has been dismissed as an ethereal and dreamy campaign slogan, in fact, it has very tangible economic impacts. If people fear for the future, they save; if they have optimism, they spend, with obvious impacts on the well-being of the economy.

May the hopes of the American people, and those of the world, not be disappointed.

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