Today is the 4th of July, what we Americans call our Independence Day. Despite the fact that the Declaration was issued a few days earlier than this some 247 years ago. And, as was true for Israel when it declared its independence in 1948, our neighbors weren’t so sure we were independent. OK. For America, it wasn’t the “neighbors”- it was Britain. But, even when Britain conceded it lost the States, it wasn’t until the completion of the War of 1812 that our battle(s) with Britain truly achieved our independence.