Carlo Strenger

While the Assad regime's massacre of Syrian civilians does not justify Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Israel's critics must acknowledge the rough neighborhood it lives in.

Secular liberals are hated as the ruling elite, even though the right has been in power for the latter half of Israel’s history. Meanwhile, as opposed to religious-nationalists and the ultra-orthodox, we do not have any minority rights.

Anti-Semitism must be condemned, exposed, and persecuted – but to keep warning that the next holocaust is around the corner is intellectually dishonest, morally problematic, and politically unwise.

If Netanyahu did say that Haaretz and the New York Times are Israel's greatest enemies, then he would be somebody who would prefer that there be no media that criticize him.

We will feel a lot better when we no longer have to explain to totalitarian minds why liberty is important. What a relief!

Given the tragedies of Jewish history, I find it offensive both as a human being and as a Jew that Israeli parliamentarians attack human rights organizations.

The weaker strata are deprived of the barest necessities. And the middle classes are deprived of the most basic demand from a decent society: to achieve a respectable life in return for long-term investment in education and hard work.

All the symptoms that Israel's citizens are protesting are the expression of one fundamental illness: the relationship between government and citizenry.