Years of war, oppression and neglect by their mother churches and clerical leadership have caused a mass exodus of Christians from the Middle East. The numbers tell it all. In the Holy Land, emigration has turned majorities in once distinct Christian enclaves into minorities. In all of Israel, where Christians prospered most, they have dwindled to a mere 130,000, about 2.1% of the population. Only 14,000 Christians remain in Jerusalem. Of close to 70,000 people living in Nazareth, Christians, who until recently constituted a majority, are now only 30% of the population.

Like successive marriages, the blind faith of Israelis that “clean, new” leadership will set all wrongs right represents the triumph of hope over experience. Again and again, our statist distributive system corrupts politics and brings out the worst, even in the best. Rampant statism has ground the Soviet empire to dust, and caused us disaster after disaster. Yet, after each catastrophe, we search amidst the rubble for a new white hope, clinging to the illusion that given the “right” leadership, Israel can revive itself without paying the painful cost of true reform.