Israel's democratic system is based on a unicameral parliament, the Knesset, the members of which are chosen in an election based on nationwide proportional representation. Because no one single political party has ever in the country's history won a majority of 61 out of 120 Knesset seats, multiple parties -- including small ones -- need to group together in a coalition to form the government.

It is often necessary to make significant compromises among the parties in order to make up a governing coalition. That is what is happening now with Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who .... promises to continue to oppose [bigotries] in the new government he is working to form under himself as Prime Minister.

Israel, however, presents a very different face through the persona of its President Isaac Herzog. In Israel, the presidency is a non-partisan ceremonial role, without executive powers. Herzog... in 2015 ran unsuccessfully for prime minister as leader of the left-wing Labor Party. Today, as president, he represents all the citizens of Israel. His face is that of a centrist patriot with a long history of supporting human rights for all....

Herzog can remind the world that no country in history has contributed more to the world -- medically, scientifically, technologically, agriculturally, culturally, in human rights and in other ways -- during its first 75 years of existence than Israel. This, despite having to devote so much of its resources to defending itself against genocidal threats from Iran and other nations and terror groups committed to its destruction. Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations, and is seeking peace and normalization with still others.

Netanyahu, who was Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has played an extremely positive role in many of these developments, as well as in creating a peace that few thought possible with four Arab countries -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco -- after decades of hostility – all while countering deadly threats from Iran and leading Israel's economy away from socialism into the high-tech wonder that it is.

There is much for Israel to be proud of, even as it faces challenges both from without and within. No nation is subjected to more unfounded and disproportionate condemnation -- from the United Nations, from international tribunals, from NGOs, from campus radicals, from many in the media -- than the nation-state of the Jewish people.

China is fully exploiting the cooling of US-Saudi relations engineered by the Biden administration's repeated public personal attacks on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as well as perceived decreased support for the Saudi-led coalition's efforts to blunt Iranian expansionism in Yemen.

The Saudis had most likely hoped that the US would finally scuttle the Iran nuclear deal for good, which did not take place.

Just a few weeks into the Biden administration, on February 12, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed the Houthis from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. A few months later, the Houthis expressed their appreciation by raining rockets and missiles down on Saudi Arabia's "critical energy facilities" and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi leaders therefore seem to be seeking to diversify their commercial and security links by improving relations with China, as superficially symbolized by the pomp and ceremony associated with Xi's welcome to Riyadh. If so, this Saudi initiative plays well with Xi's concept of an emerging multi-polar world.

Xi has agreed to buy more oil from Gulf Cooperation Council states but suggested that the purchases be paid for in Chinese yuan rather than US dollars. If the oil-exporting states agree to Xi's request, it will further reinforce the notion that US influence with Saudi Arabia is on the decline.

As evidence of this negative trend in US prestige, the Saudi crown prince ignored US warnings not to sign deals with the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. Saudi Arabia inked Huawei-associated contracts on data centers and cloud computing.

The Saudis seem to be welcoming China as a potential strategic partner -- one that will not, unlike the US, interfere in what the Kingdom undoubtedly considers its most urgent existential need.