28 Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
They know that Israel has a thriving civil society and numerous human rights monitoring groups .
They know that Israel protects freedom of worship for all religious communities , indeed has gone so far as to limit access of Jews on the Temple Mount , Judaism ’ s holiest site , specifically to avoid tension with Muslim worshipers at the two mosques built there much later . In fact , since the 1967 Six-Day War Israel has ceded authority for the area to the Waqf , the Muslim religious authority . Could anyone imagine the reverse happening if it were in an Arab country ? Yet , Palestinian leaders periodically incite their followers by falsely claiming Israel seeks to change the status quo .
They know that Israel , based on the core principles of the Jewish tradition , attaches great importance to ethical and moral standards of behavior , even when , at times , it may fall short .
And , as a result , they know there are self-imposed restraints on Israeli behavior precisely because Israel is a democratic state and its government is accountable to the will of the people .
If only the Middle East resembled the Middle West !
Wouldn ’ t that augur well for peaceful conflict resolution and regional cooperation ? When was the last time that one democratic nation launched a military attack against another democracy ? Regrettably , democracy is a rare commodity in the Middle East . The dramatic events that begin in Tunisia in December 2010 , and subsequently spread to several other Arab countries , led some to believe the advent of democracy was finally at hand , hence the name “ Arab Spring .” But with only the partial exception of Tunisia itself , other nations , from Libya to Syria to Yemen , were plunged into chaos , violence , and disintegration , with little to show for overcoming the democracy and human rights deficits at the root of social problems .
The Palestinians know how Syria ’ s late President Hafez al-Assad dealt with Islamic fundamentalists , killing an estimated 10,000-