Netanyahu unfaithful to Zionism vision

Akiva Eldar, al-monitor.com [Original article contains links.]

Netanyahu image from

Excerpt:

[A]n abyss lies between the outrageous warning by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on election day in 2015 against the “Arabs flocking in droves to the ballot boxes" and the Declaration of Independence. That 1948 founding Zionist document clearly states that Israel “will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.” Netanyahu’s refusal to include the word “equality” in the text of the Nationality law (emphasizing Israel’s Jewish character) that he is trying so hard to promote proves beyond a doubt that his apology to a group of Arab “dignitaries” — Israeli-Arab leaders hand-picked by Netanyahu’s associates for the occasion — over his despicable election-day ploy was in itself a reprehensible exercise in public relations. ...

The Birthright Israel Foundation funded by Jewish tycoons, chief among them Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, brings thousands of American students to visit Israel each year in order to strengthen their affinity for the Jewish state and mobilize their support for pro-Israel public diplomacy on US campuses. Last week, the organization reportedly decided to cut out of the program’s itinerary meetings between the Jewish students and Israeli Arabs. If these students don’t meet Palestinians, they won’t have to deal with questions of their liberal Jewish identity vis-a-vis the occupation policies of the Jewish state. If they only meet attractive Israeli soldiers, they won’t know that the state they are being asked to defend against activists of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is considered throughout the world as "a pariah state."...