Having an opportunity to visit Israel this year after my previous 1996 trip was insightful. So much had changed and I found her again, while in the midst of turmoil, a nation very much at peace with herself in many regards.

My one disappointment with the nation was how little of black history is incorporated by the guides and within the nation, for at its crux it is our history as well.

In the story of the creation of the nation of Israel from the Balfour discussions of 1947, no one mentioned the yeoman’s work of Ralph Johnson Bunche, a black man whose mediations led to this outcome and a 1950 Nobel Prize for his efforts. Bunche was a much honored employee of the U.S. State Department and UN Department of Trusteeship handling problems for those who had not attained self-government. From June 1947 to August 1949, his assignment was the confrontation between Arabs and Jews in Palestine, serving on the UN Palestine Commission. After 11 months of negotiation, this work led to an armistice agreement between Israel and the Arab states.

The erroneous assumption that all Jews are white is both misguided and misreads the Torah and Bible, where men are often described as putting their hands in their cloaks and had such extracted as white; or that the Queen of Sheba — Makeda of Africa — had a son by Solomon, Melenick, whose removal of the Arc of the Covenant reportedly to Ethiopia also created a distinct blood line of color for Jews. These Falashas or Beta Israel have been granted sanctuary in Israel. Operation Moses, a large funded voluntary in-migration program of relocation for them, to which I contributed, has resulted in their beautiful ovoid faces within the ranks of the military or in various jobs in the nation.

There are significant tribes within Zimbabwe who are thought as well to possibly be descendants of the lost tribe of Israel. The Lemba peoples who live in central Zimbabwe and South Africa have DNA links to the Cohen Modal Haplotype, an indicator of Jewish ancestry of Aaron’s priestly lines of Israel.

Most importantly, all who are Jews are free to settle within Israel’s borders.

The Islamic population of Israel is about 2 million of its approximately 8 million residents. Within this land — the size of New Jersey with population numbers equal to North Carolina’s — a growing but unspoken dilemma is the fact that the Muslim population has about eight children per household versus two for the Jews. The difficulty in maintaining a religiously sovereign state becomes a dilemma where Jews will not only be surrounded by those who don’t serve our God but also internally are outnumbered possibly within this generation.

In Israel, the regard for antiquities is visible everywhere; it hinders expansion and rebuilding within but allows some access to all religions for their respective treasures. Visiting the Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza Strip, one has a clearer understanding of why these disputed lands captured in defensive wars aren’t likely to be returned — buffer zones and fertile farmlands abound there. A state like North Carolina one could learn much about self-sufficiency and sustainability from how Israel manages its resources to provide its citizens with all they need. And for our nation, the Israeli military, with a draft of its young, demonstrates how such is important to defense, training young people for future careers and instilling a sense of pride in their country without creating a permanent military career structure.

For Israel it is about faith but also about remembrance. Visiting the Holocaust Museum or the Shrine of the Book is a constant and ever vigilant reminder of what can happen to a people who willingly glaze over their history. Steve Harvey’s  comment that he “doesn’t give a damn about slavery” or we should get a different “Black National Anthem” reveals an ignorance of history and the need to never forget so that it “never again” happens on our watch.

We should hear what Netanyahu as Israel’s leader has to say, for the security of that region of the world is intimately tied to Israel’s survival and well-being.

Dr. Ada M. Fisher is the North Carolina Republican National Committeewoman. Her book, “Commonsense Conservative Prescriptions: Solutions for What Ails Us,” is available through Amazon.com.  Email: drfisher@dradamfisher.org