I have no intention to tell you, the Israeli people, how or for whom to vote.
My intention, rather, is to offer words of praise for a man and a political party that I believe have done a remarkable job on the world stage in promoting Israel's image, protecting Israel's borders and growing Israel's economy.
I offer this opinion because I am a Jewish-American Zionist with a strong, lifelong commitment to helping Israelis build a stronger and more prosperous Israel. I'm 33 years old so hopefully that means at least another 50 years.
Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership, the State of Israel has invested more than ever before in research and development. Increasing numbers of Israeli companies are being acquired by American companies and American companies are opening satellite offices in Israel. What will forever be known as the "startup nation" has evolved into the "innovation nation."
With record government investments in your economy, the dividends being repaid are huge and endless. Israel now ranks fifth in the world on the Bloomberg Innovation Index.
From an American's perspective, that is a major accomplishment. And we can hardly wait until Israel is No. 1 on the index.
Powerful countries like China, India, Brazil, Italy, Japan and the United States have played major roles in helping grow Israel's economy and the image of Israel around the world.
This is due to the efforts of Netanyahu and the diplomats he has put in place around the world. Here in the United States, your diplomats are doing an amazing job reaching out to and partnering with the Israeli community, Israeli-Americans and Jewish Americans.
The Jewish community knows we can always count on the support of your diplomats deployed here in the U.S. to support us and, vice versa, your diplomats know they can count on us for support.
You would be hard pressed to find another American who believes more strongly that it's not the place of a Jewish American or any American to tell Israelis how to protect and secure their borders.
Only you, the Israeli people, know how to best protect your own borders. The investment and foreign aid dollars from the U.S. government have increased under President Donald Trump's leadership. We don't ever want to tell Israelis the right or wrong way to protect your country and your people.
However, we do want to make sure you have all the tools and resources needed to protect yourselves. I think we've made it very clear that we want the world to know, if someone attacks Israel, they will not only have to worry about retaliation from your very strong and capable Israel Defense Forces but also the full force of the United States military.
The world knows that the United States stands ready, willing and able to defend Israel no matter the cost, no matter the risk. This has been made crystal clear through the strong partnership of between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Make no mistake, the increased military, economic and diplomatic support from the United States is because of Trump. The president is a strong supporter of the Jewish people here in the United States, around the world and in Israel.
Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and administration officials like U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman have and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the State of Israel.
As Netanyahu said in 2018, "Thank you, President Trump! We too have no better friend than America. We are greatly looking forward to your moving the embassy to Jerusalem, Israel's eternal capital."
The U.S. president is very proud of his decision to move our embassy to Israel's undivided and undisputed eternal capital, Jerusalem.
