Israel retreats a millemetre

Protests inside and outside Israel are not good for business. The Zionist state is waging an aggressive publicity campaign to bring tourists to Israel especially during summer holidays. So to 'spice' up the menu of spots to visit, Israel is appealing to Christians: it has unearthed and deactivated mines long buried along the Palestinian West Bank Jordan River border. The 'mine free' site is the traditional site where John the Baptist baptised Jesus. Now 43 years after Israel occupied the West Bank in the wake of the Six Day War, one of the most holy sites in Christendom is once more open to the faithful.
The Zionist state's gesture is an act of expedience to win friends and influence people. Will it work the more especially since Israel has embarked on draconian measures to quiet protests among its own citizens, thereby applying, to a degree, the harsh governance under which Palestinians have lived for more than four decades?

The denial of 40 percent of natural gas to Israel from Egypt is incrementally taking its toll on the Zionist state's economy, it goes without saying. The fall of Mubarak is putting a strain on state expenditures by shifting money away from industry to the military. Israel rapid growth in the past had gotten a boost by its alliance with Mubarak Egypt, which kept the lid tight on the blockaded Gaza Strip, thereby allowing Israel to devote more funds for more rapid economic development.

Mubarak's Egypt did not see any growth, but thanks to US billion dollar loans, Washington kept the authoritarian leader afloat. With his overthrow, the US is scrambling for a new policy that is not quickly coming and Israel, even with billions in American taxpayers money, which the US forgives as loans, will see a break on its economic growth.

So even opening the shores of the Jordan where Jesus is traditionally thought to have received baptism has to be seen as a retreat for Israel as its flounder to regain a pinch of economic balance.