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One Jerusalem hosted a bloggers conference call with the co-author of The Case for Democracy, Ron Dermer.  Ron has served as an adviser to Natan Sharansky and Benjamin Netanyahu and today serves as Israel’s Minister of Economic Affairs in the United States.

Ron discussed the impact of the war on Israel’s economy and offer his insights into a wide-range of foreign and security issues facing the State. Along with the above experiences Ron is an expert on Israeli politics.

Ron began by explaining that Israel's economy is strong for three reasons: 

1. Israel was fortunate that Benjamin Netanyahu was finance minister. He had the keys to the "economic kingdom" and he achieved major overhaul of the economy.  He completely overhauled fiscal policies and fortunately his successors successors maintained his changes.

2.  Israel has the finest Central Banker in the world - Stanley Fischer.
 
3. The main reason Israel's economy is so strong is because of its most important resource - people.
 
Ron went on to explain that the mood in Israel not good .  This is the result of a combination of anger and apathy.  However, Ron is far more optimistic about Israel’s future after the war then he was before.  This is because he did not know if Israeli's were willing to fight.

Despite the mistakes made by the government in not finishing the job, 90% of Israeli's were ready and willing to fight.  While the mood might be bad, the resolve is crystal clear.  
 
Ron's Comments on the US Elections - Israel is only the front lines against fanatic Islam.  The relevant question is whether the new leaders of Congress recognize the dangers and do they have a plan to confront these things.  Many may be supportive of Israel but do they recognize the dangers and will they do what is necessary to win?  If the U.S. goes back to pre-911 mentality they will not win.  This is why Joe Lieberman is the key.  You can’t fight if only half the country is fighting.  Democrats can’t lose the Scoop Jackson’s or Pat Moynihan's, the fight against radical Islam must be bi-partisan.

For more in-depth coverage of this call be sure to look at some of the other bloggers on the line: Anne of Boker Tov Boulder, Avi Green of Tel-Chai Nation, Jerry Gordon of Israpundit, Barak of Iris Blog, Gary of Regime Change Iran, and Pastorius of Cuanas Blog.