Growing up in a tough Bronx neighborhood further back than I like to think, it was good to have an older tough friend. I was lucky -- I did. My next door neighbor was three years older than me and always had my back. It allowed me to navigate confidently around the "hood," as you would say, and not worry too much about the bad guys. But things changed, my friend moved away, and I was now responsible for my own security. Countries are comprised of people who collectively are faced with similar circumstances. Israel is just such a country. Despite irritants from time to time, no nation in the world has had a more dependable friend and a stronger ally than the United States has been to Israel since her founding. Israel in turn is America's closest ally, never once asking for one American soldier to risk his life defending her during successive wars with the Arabs. Nevertheless, it was reassuring for the Jewish state to know, if push came to shove the United States would always be there...(Read Full Article)