bobad - Yes, I also really think that is the case as regards Israel. But it's not the ONLY thing one can say about the situation. So keep in mind, I also agree wholeheartedly that Israel is under genuine threat. No doubt about it. I do not divide this issue into good guys on one side and bad guys on the other!

I see self-interest and fanaticism and utter purblind assurance of one's own righteousness and godliness as being illnesses from which both Israel AND their Muslim opponents are suffering. I see NO good guys in the forces commanding this wretched Middle Eastern dispute, only blind self-interest, greed, hatred, arrogance, and a misguided sense of holy martyrdom. They are so alike to one another in basic psychology, the Zionist Israelis and their bitterest Muslim Jihadi foes, that it is no wonder they can't stand sharing the same area of land in peaceful coexistence.

One could almost say they deserve each other, if one were a complete cynic. I'm not. I feel sorry for the ordinary people, Jewish and Muslim, who suffer the consequences on a daily basis.

The Israelis are a far better organized and more modern society than their opponents. This does not necessarily make them better people, it just means that they are far more likely to win military victories. That isn't a measure of human goodness.

My view is, Jews and Muslims and Christians are all born equally good from the start, and there ARE no "chosen people" and there IS no "one True Faith" that is above other faiths. If they could just believe that themselves, well then, much progress could be made in settling these issues, couldn't it?