ISRAEL UP CLOSE By Maarten Boudry
https://quillette.com/2025/05/14/israel-up-close/
Amid the many victim vs. oppressor narratives popular among the Left, there’s no shortage of finger-pointing. Each dimension of oppression has its own designated villain: white people, males, the one percent, straight people, and cisgender individuals. And yet, the biggest culprit in this demonology isn’t a person at all—it’s Western civilisation itself. Western industrialisation is accused of wrecking the planet, Western capitalism of exploiting poorer countries, and Western colonialism of centuries of plundering and conquering. In this blame game, the West is cast as the ultimate bad guy.
Now, Western civilisation isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and indeed, many of its harshest critics are enjoying its fruits, living in Western cities and teaching at Western universities. But there is one easy way for progressives to atone for their guilt at the heinous misdeeds of their civilisation, without sacrificing any personal comforts: to demonise Israel. Unlike most of the world’s liberal democracies, Israel faces existential threats from multiple quarters and must often resort to lethal violence in self-defence.
For the more radical wing of the Left, groups like Hamas and Hezbollah are noble freedom fighters waging a righteous battle against settler-colonialism. While the disappearance of the ultimate settler-colonialist empire, the United States, seems like a far-fetched fantasy, the disappearance of the world’s only Jewish state appears to be just about within reach. The moderate Left isn’t prepared to go that far, of course. They simply argue that the atrocities committed by Hamas, while worthy of condemnation, are nevertheless understandable responses to decades of Israeli occupation. For both groups, Israel is the last vestige of the European colonialist project and should shoulder most of the blame for the ongoing conflict. It is an apartheid state steeped in notions of white and Jewish supremacy.
Yet, despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to undermine the rule of law, Israel stands out as the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. Almost all international democracy rankings award Israel the highest score in the region by far. The country boasts free elections, a vibrant civil society, and constitutional rights for ethnic minorities and LGBT people. There’s a solid separation of powers, with human rights organisations and regular citizens frequently taking their government to court. Every possible criticism of the government is extensively aired in the Israeli press. In stark contrast, most neighbouring Arab nations have dismal human rights records, lack genuine liberal freedoms, and score depressingly low in international democracy rankings. Lebanon is the only country in the Arab world to have hosted a Gay Pride parade.
Israel is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Alongside the Sunni Muslim Arab population, you’ll find a number of minority groups including Druze, Christians, and Ahmadis. Arabs and Muslims who live within Israel itself—and who form around twenty percent of the Israeli population—enjoy full citizenship and the same rights as Israeli Jews. They’re represented in parliament, serve in the army, and hold high positions in government and civil society.
I recently travelled through Israel with a delegation of the Europe Israel Press Association (EIPA), a non-profit that’s independent of the Israeli government. While there, I talked to a wide variety of people—residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Bedouins and Arabs living in villages near the Lebanese border towns and in East Jerusalem, and members of the Knesset from various parties.
During my visit, I was particularly struck by the loyalty that many Arab Israelis—though certainly not all—feel toward their nation. At the Sheba Medical Centre, we found Jews and Arabs working side by side in operating rooms, treating Israeli, Arab, and Palestinian children without distinction. Even though Arabs are exempt from the military draft, a surprising number have volunteered to defend their country. We spoke to one of them: IDF Major Ella Waweya, a young Arab woman who joined the army against her family’s objections (they have since become reconciled to her choice). In 2016, she earned the highest military honour and now serves as Deputy Commander of the Arabic Spokesperson’s Unit. An observant Muslim, she is proud to speak Hebrew with an Arab accent. She told us that her career has inspired many others to sign up, including a dozen Arab recruits from her own village alone.
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