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Washington Post: Israel ‘Suppressing Its Majority Population?’

Criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a legitimate activity in the opinion pages of a newspaper. Indeed, Israelis themselves can be some of Netanyahu’s fiercest critics. So while David Rothkopf’s attack on Netanyahu…

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Criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a legitimate activity in the opinion pages of a newspaper. Indeed, Israelis themselves can be some of Netanyahu’s fiercest critics.

So while David Rothkopf’s attack on Netanyahu in the Washington Post and comparison with US President Donald Trump may be debatable, it is not beyond the rough and tumble of political discourse.

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However, Rothkopf goes one step further in his critique of Israel as a state:

What is Israel’s “majority population” and is Israel suppressing it in order to survive?

According to Israeli population statistics for 2017, the Jewish population makes up 6,484,000 (74.7%); 1,808,000 (20.8%) are Arabs; and, those identified as “others” (non-Arab Christians, Baha’i, etc) make up 4.5% of the population (388,000 people).

So Israel’s majority population is clearly Jewish and it would be virtually impossible to argue that they are being suppressed. As for the other approximately 25% of the population, they are also equal under Israeli law, enjoying the civil, humanitarian and political rights that Israeli democracy bestows on all of its citizens.

To be clear, the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are not Israeli citizens and are not counted in Israeli population statistics.

As for the “selective application” of democracy, it is the Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza who have been denied a democratic vote for their leadership, as President Mahmoud Abbas is currently in the twelfth year of a four year term while legislative elections were last held in 2006.

So what exactly is Rothkopf critical of? The state of Israeli democracy? Israeli policy towards the Palestinians? Either way, his throwaway line is ill-thought out, grossly inaccurate and a slur on Israel.

Opinion pages are for opinions based on grounded facts but not for spreading falsehoods. You can send your considered comments to the Washington Post – [email protected]. You can find out more about the Washington Post’s requirements for publishing letters here, and tips on good letter-writing at HR’s own slideshow.

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Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, census, David Rothkopf, distorted facts, population statistics, Washington Post

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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