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One of the most critical lessons conveyed by the Parasha of the MERAGELIM (spies or explorers) is to learn to identify and communicate the good in the land of Israel. Unfortunately, not everyone has learned this lesson. Instead of focusing on the outstanding achievements of the Jewish state, many media outlets focus “solely” on its problems, conflicts, etc. Practically, an 80/20 ratio: four times more is said about Israel’s negatives than its positives in all aspects: military, economic, social, etc. And that does not truly reflect the reality seen here. Today, I will present a small example that will serve as a test regarding the selective information that normal, educated people know or ignore about the positive and extraordinary things happening in Israel. For the first time, I will talk to you about the economy! At the beginning of Parashah Bechukotai, HaShem began His promises of blessing to Bnei Yisrael by assuring that the land would have enormous prosperity. This cannot be natural because, as the Tora says, Israel does not have natural resources like Egypt, which has the Nile. But the Creator still assured us that His blessing would come to the promised land. And there would even be a surplus. However, to identify the extreme prosperity assured by the Tora, one must have imagination. And a lot of patience. WHERE TO LOOK FOR THE BLESSING? A few years ago, in 2010, an American non-Jew but a great follower of the Bible, John Brown, created the company Zion Oil & Gas and invested $130 million to search for oil in Israel. This was not a far-fetched search, as the Middle East is very generous in oil. I understand that his commercial initiative was based on the Torah describing the land of Asher, in the northwest of Israel, on the Mediterranean coast, as a land of SHEMEN (מאשר שמנה לחמו) “in the territory of Asher the ‘shemen’ will be his principal resource.” But what does shemen mean? The traditional Jewish interpretation is that this shemen is olive oil, and the land of the tribe of Asher produced this oil. It took eight days in the times of Hanukka to obtain new oil precisely because they had to go and bring it from the north, the territory of Asher, to Jerusalem, a four-day journey back and forth. But it seems that this good man, John Brown, with impeccable good intentions, was led by the English translation of the word shemen: “oil.” And the problem is that in English, “oil” means “oil /edible oil” and also means “oil / fossil fuel”! And that’s why Mr. Brown started looking for oil there. In any case, and unfortunately, Mr. Brown found nothing. UNDER THE SEA, UNDER THE SEA… A few years later, Israel began exploring not in the territory of Asher but in the sea of Asher, the Mediterranean Sea, and a bit further south… And, oh, surprise! Israel found gigantic deposits of natural gas beneath the seabed. The government contracted international companies like Chevron to extract the gas. Also, it made a long-term agreement with Egypt, which found very little gas in its maritime territory so that the country would liquefy the gas and export it to Europe. The Jewish state earns and will continue to gain enormous profits from natural gas, which is completely changing Israel’s macro economy. Today, Israel is considered an “energy world power.” Who would have thought of a country without oil that was always considered very poor in natural resources? Who would have imagined that Bore Olam had these riches reserved for Israel in the most untouchable place for centuries? The commercial agreement with Egypt for 20 years also means that Israel constantly provides Egypt with natural gas. At this moment, this Arab country depends energetically on Israel. Apart from this treaty’s enormous economic impact, especially for Israel, these types of commercial alliances and energy dependence are essential to maintaining political stability. It is a way to strengthen the delicate peace agreement with the most powerful — and potentially most dangerous — Arab country for Israel. The same occurs with Jordan, which also supplies itself with Israeli gas. THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF ISRAEL The profits from this industry are enormous, and they are helping to cover the tremendous cost of the war. However, the surplus of these royalties is enriching Israel’s National Treasury and its foreign currency reserve. To give you an approximate idea of what we are talking about, at this moment, Israel’s national treasury has foreign exchange reserves that are just a little less than those of the USA and almost double those of Spain or Canada. See here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-exchange_reserves Gas royalties are estimated to bring between $55,290 billion and $72,040 billion dollars to Israel’s national treasury in the next 20 years! See this information from dr. Guy Bechor |
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WHY ISN’T THIS TALKED ABOUT? Returning to good news, I ask my readers to answer me honestly: how many of you have heard about Israel’s incredible energy development? About these gigantic natural resources? What about the enormous profits underwater natural gas will bring Israel in the coming years? No one says that Israel does not have problems. Or that the war will be easy. Or that the issue of the hostages will be magically resolved. But focusing all the time on that is ignoring the good news and being ungrateful to God for the generous blessings He grants us. Like Israel’s incredible strategic victory in Gaza, the record increase in Aliyah — against all odds — or economic prosperity. Ignoring the good news is equivalent to repeating the mistake of the meragelim. And of the people who cried infected by a viralized defeatism. Let us learn from Yehoshua and Caleb, who spoke בשבחה של ארץ ישראל of the blessings and wonders of the land of Israel. טובה הארץ מאוד מאוד With God’s help, Israel’s future is bright beyond what we dare to imagine. |
