"Years before the 1917 Balfour Declaration granted the Jews a homeland, Jews had been settling in Israel, then called Palestine. Many of them belonged to one or another of the various workers’ movements which were in vogue around the turn of the century. In that era, socialism was believed to herald not only better times, but some sort of economic millennium.
An integral part of socialist dogma was the belief that capital was ruthlessly exploiting labor. This, it was believed, could be eliminated only when the means of production were owned and controlled by the socialist state."
Prior to U.S. pressure in the 80's 80% of GDP was government spending. Now it is down to the U.S. level of a about 40% of a mixed Socialist/ Capitalist country.
"Finally, in January 1983, the bubble burst, and thousands of private citizens and businesses as well as government-run enterprises faced bankruptcy. Israel was close to collapse. At this critical moment, a sympathetic U.S. president, Ronald Reagan, and his secretary of state, George Shultz, came to the rescue. They offered a grant of $1.5 billion if the Israeli government agreed to abandon its socialist rulebook and adopt some form of U.S.-style capitalism, using American-trained professionals.
The Histadrut strongly resisted, unwilling to give up their decades-old power and to concede that socialism was responsible for Israel’s economic troubles. However, the people had had enough of soaring inflation and non-existent growth and rejected the Histadrut’s policy of resistance. Still, the Israeli government hesitated, unwilling to spend political capital on economic reform. An exasperated Secretary Schulz informed Israel that if it did not begin freeing up the economy, the U.S. would freeze “all monetary transfers” to the country. The threat worked. The Israeli government officially adopted most of the free-market “recommendations.”"
"Jews are among the most strongly liberal, Democratic groups in U.S. politics. There are more than twice as many self-identified Jewish liberals as conservatives, while among the general public, this balance is nearly reversed."
Pew Research.
If democrats and socialists are bad.....................
Last edited by Dirt; 10/15/23 05:06 AM.
