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Israel is showing again that free enterprise and faith can flourish side by side as a new digital bank in the Jewish state prepares to shake up entrenched banking cartels. Esh Bank, backed by tech entrepreneur Nir Zuk and a team of seasoned Israeli financiers, has announced plans to offer zero-fee current accounts and to return half of the interest revenue it earns back to depositors — a bold, consumer-first model that challenges the cozy arrangement between big banks and regulators. This is the kind of market-driven innovation conservatives have been arguing for: less rent-seeking, more competition, and real benefits for working families.
The details make the promise credible rather than just talk: Esh says it built its banking platform from scratch to drive operating costs down, plans to remain branchless and highly automated, and will share 50 percent of the interest income it generates with customers. The bank’s founders include recognizable names from Israel’s tech and regulatory world, and they plan a phased rollout beginning with a soft launch in early 2026. If they deliver on this model, it will expose how much consumers have been gouged by legacy banks and how much better banking can look when entrepreneurs are allowed to compete.
American conservatives ought to pay attention: this is a reminder that free markets and responsible entrepreneurship beat heavy-handed government fixes every time. Esh has even signaled the intention to allow American citizens to open accounts in due course, showing that American savers and small businesses could one day benefit from foreign competition that forces domestic banks to clean up their act. If U.S. policymakers prize consumer welfare, they should be encouraging cross-border innovation, not erecting protections for incumbent banks and needless regulatory barriers.
Meanwhile, Newsmax’s Israel correspondent Jodie Cohen takes viewers to Magdala, the ancient Galilean city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, reminding patriotic Americans why Israel matters beyond geopolitics and headlines. Cohen’s reporting highlights a place where archaeology, faith, and history converge — from the fishing economy of the first century to the recent discoveries that reconnect modern visitors with the Gospels and Jewish life under the Second Temple. Her on-the-ground perspective is a breath of fresh air compared with the predictable narratives of mainstream outlets that too often ignore Israel’s cultural and religious heritage.
Magdala itself is one of those rare sites that speaks to both Jewish and Christian history: archaeologists uncovered a first-century synagogue, ritual baths, and the famous Magdala Stone engraved with a menorah motif, offering tangible proof of the biblical world. Pilgrims and tourists who visit the Magdala center and nearby excavations walk where the first-century townsfolk lived, traded, and worshiped — a powerful antidote to the revisionist histories pushed by the left. Israel’s stewardship of these sites is not only an archaeological victory but a moral one, preserving the roots of Western civilization against those who would erase or relativize them.
This brief dispatch ties together two unmistakable American conservative themes: the triumph of market solutions over monopolies and the defense of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Israel is proving it can be both a Silicon Valley of security and finance and a guardian of sacred history, and patriotic Americans should applaud both efforts. Support for Israel is not merely strategic; it’s support for the liberty, faith, and entrepreneurial spirit that built the West.
