I know a few Israeli Jews. All are classical or folk musicians that I met in the United States. I have not heard one good word from any of them about Benjamin Netanyahu. I'm guessing that most of them are supporters of the Labor Party. They seem to think of Netanyahu, like most of us think of Trump. Wikipedia lists 17 different political parties in the Knesset, none with a majority. Whichever party wants to form a government, must form a coalition with somebody. But with such a wide spead of parties, it's hard to make definite statements about the politics of the Knesset.

Israel is a wonderful place, it really is. I think it would be ideal for Israel and the occupied territories to be blended into one state, but that would be disastrous for the Jews because it would create a vast Arab electoral majority that would not allow the Jews to survive.

That being the case, I think a two-state solution is the only viable option. But Israel feels threatened by that and rightly so, so it is blocking that option. But as I said above, it seems that the wall is actually serving to strengthen Palestine while giving Israel the security it needs, so now maybe Israel will be willing to agree to a second state.

But there is so much animosity and anger blocking any attempt at a solution, so I don't know if a permanent solution is possible. Maybe the current stasis is the best we can hope for, until the situation evolves. Somehow, in the current stasis, the Israelis and Palestinians are able to make things work - usually. But it's a delicate balance, and any number of things can upset that balance and cause disaster. Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is one such action that could lead to disaster.

There are two possible perspectives on the proposal to build a train station under the Old City of Jerusalem. It could be an absolute disaster, destroying any semblance of stasis that the Israelis and Palestinians have been able to achieve. I'm afraid that all hell would break loose on the day they started construction, so I think I have to oppose the building of such a station.

At one time, I would have opposed underground construction like this in any archaeologically sensitive area - and especially this one. But then I saw the Acropolis subway station in Athens. The construction of the subway allowed for outstanding archaeological work to take place, and the artifacts that were found were placed in a new museum built right next to the subway. The stations itself is delightful, decorated with features reminiscent of the historical site above. I went into the station at 6 one morning, and classical music was playing on the platform - on high-quality speakers. This underground station could be an extraordinary opportunity for archaeologists.

Maybe the political climate would be good for such a station in 50 or 100 years, but right now, I think it would be disastrous.

-Joe-