The dream came back day after day. I saw the two maps next to each other and, lo and behold, the Baltic land was much, much larger than the current Israel, if you disregard the huge Negev Desert. Caught in the irrationality of the dreamworld, I was advised by happy Israelis that they had not been here since 1948 but rather came just recently to establish a new state. That absurd statement almost woke me up but didn’t. They would not need an army, they said, because there was nobody against whom they had to defend the land. The numerous Russian Jews among them provided a perfect avenue in promoting commerce with Russia. And that was not all, for they predicted that their Baltic seaport would soon turn into a Baltic Hong Kong as a maritime outlet for its endless hinterland extending all the way to Siberia.
There were images passing through my bedazzled mind of young men and women who had never been in the military. “What for?” they said. It was unreal to see them so unconcerned and easygoing, going fishing in one of the Masurian Lakes next door, having dinner in Gdansk, or taking a boat ride to enjoy a weekend in Stockholm. Weird, I thought, how in the world did they acquire this land? I guess that woke me up and got me wondering.
Don’t ask me where this recurrent dream originated. Perhaps I had a deep desire for the Jews to have a homeland, which was peaceful and normal. Time and again, the dream came back. I saw all of us, who are friends of Israel, get together and buy that territory from the Russians, for a few trillion Euros, payable over fifty years. I saw several Gulf States offer contributions, if that would hasten the process. I saw the indigent Kaliningrad folks depart for Russia, there to resettle, pocketing financial rewards to a tune they could have never imagined. I saw the reconstruction of the new land with new roads, homes, and industries. I saw eager foreign investments coming into this promising land. I saw prosperity and a bonanza for developers. I saw all of the Palestinians going out of their minds in immense joy. I saw the whole world take a deep breath of relief and pitching in to help the project along. I saw Iran abandoning its nuclear ambitions and Egypt and Saudi Arabia reducing their armed forces. And there were Islamic terrorists who … well, that’s when I woke up.
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