I’m told by Dimi Reider that much of the coverage of Tunisia in Israel has been quite negative, including this sour assessment by Netanyahu, saying that it demonstrates the need for strong security provisions in any deal with the Palestinians. No you can’t trust these violent Arabs. The special prize goes to YNET: “Tunisia turned into Iraq overnight.”
I understand the Israeli fears. They’ve been a colonialist dream, a western state, a settler state since the beginning; and the occupation is tyranny. The removal of Arab dictatorships removes much of their moral sanctimony. Isn’t this a great time/argument for a peaceful transition to democracy? (And can’t American Jews, beneficiaries of democracy, help their cousins to imagine a better future?)
