I was speaking broadly. But note that there are more Muslim citizens of Israel than there are Jews in all of the Arab nations around her. Before 1947 there were close to a million Jews in those nations--they were expelled or induced to leave after Israel's independence. Many of them went to Israel, where they are part of the problem. While Israel was founded by Jews who were of European origin, with ideas like social democracy in their blood, the Mizrahi from the Middle East had much the same intolerance and lack of interest in democracy that their former neighbors have exhibited (I am speaking VERY broadly here). Russian Jews who came to Israel in the 1980s and '90s exhibited many of the same regrettable tendencies. And it is true that many awful things have been done and are being done to Palestinians on the West Bank, and that they are largely shielded from view by what is happening in Gaza. Another reason why Israel must change course, radically. But it is true that Israel is a democracy, which none of the Arab states are, and that change is much more likely there than in their neighbors--that's one reason Israel is held to a higher standard.
Tolerance? Like the settlers in the West Bank?
I was speaking broadly. But note that there are more Muslim citizens of Israel than there are Jews in all of the Arab nations around her. Before 1947 there were close to a million Jews in those nations--they were expelled or induced to leave after Israel's independence. Many of them went to Israel, where they are part of the problem. While Israel was founded by Jews who were of European origin, with ideas like social democracy in their blood, the Mizrahi from the Middle East had much the same intolerance and lack of interest in democracy that their former neighbors have exhibited (I am speaking VERY broadly here). Russian Jews who came to Israel in the 1980s and '90s exhibited many of the same regrettable tendencies. And it is true that many awful things have been done and are being done to Palestinians on the West Bank, and that they are largely shielded from view by what is happening in Gaza. Another reason why Israel must change course, radically. But it is true that Israel is a democracy, which none of the Arab states are, and that change is much more likely there than in their neighbors--that's one reason Israel is held to a higher standard.