Suchergebnisse

In November, a proposal for a basic law titled 'Israel, the Nation-State of the Jewish People' passed in the Israeli Cabinet by a vote of 14-6, with two centrist coalition parties opposing it. For the bill to become law it must be approved by the Knesset, Israel's parliament. There is much opposition to this proposed legislation by those who argue that it would make Israel's non-Jewish citizens -- 20% of the population -- less than equal. In fact, of course, Israel's Palestinians already are second-class citizens. Ahmed Tibi, a veteran Arab member of the Knesset, says that there has long been tension between the halves of the term 'Jewish democracy,' as Israel likes to define itself. He notes that the proposed legislation simply 'confirms that the Jewish and democratic state is fiction.' He described Israel instead as a 'Judocracy' that would never recognize the collective rights of 'a minority that has long suffered discrimination.'. Adapted from the source document.

Together with other elements of the Israel lobby, neoconservatives -- the same people who successfully pushed the nation to war with Iraq, a country which never attacked and never possessed 'weapons of mass destruction' -- are now promoting a war with Iran, a country more than three times the size of Iraq. The war in Iraq, it should be noted, left a regional power vacuum that helped promote the growth of ISIS, helped increase the chaos in Syria and increased the regional importance of Iran. Many have pointed to the close ties of many neoconservatives with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel's right wing. Prominent neocons Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, James Colbert and David and Meyrav Wurmser wrote a memo to Netanyahu in 1997 entitled 'A Clean Break,' which recommended the reordering of the entire Middle East to the benefit of Israel. In fact, attacking Iran would have an effect opposite of what the neoconservatives and Netanyahu claim to seek. Adapted from the source document.