Should Israel exist as a religiously tolerant, democratic state?

[Vice President Christian Man]

It seems like the hardliners on both sides have been very vocal since the beginning of the war, but I am curious on which side is more aligned to my vision on how Israel should exist.

[Blue3]

Yes. Israel should be secular and multicultural, not biased towards any religion or ethnicity, not an explicitly Jewish state.

[dead0man]

yes, as should all states

[Antonio the Sixth]

Of course, and this is exactly what Israel's founders had envisioned (though unfortunately the current crop of leadership is far less committed to this goal).

[Beet]

Yes, and just change the name from "Israel" to "Palestine" and you pretty much have Rashida Tlaib's position.

[PSOL]

It would not be Israel then.

Furthermore the problem isn’t with religion, it’s with most of Israel prohibiting Arabs citizens from moving into and buying properties in many localities and dominating the lives of millions outside due to their occupation.

[Upper Canada Tory]

Israel is already (for the most part) a religiously tolerant and democratic state. It's illegal to discriminate based on race, ethnicity and religion in various aspects of life (and those laws are actively enforced), ethnic and religious minorities in Israel are so well-represented politically that they have their own political parties in the Knesset and anyone of any ethnic/religious background can serve on the Supreme Court, in the Knesset, as Prime Minister, President/head of state (which is not true for most Middle Eastern states).

There are frequently internal tensions between ethnic/religious groups and disputes over who rightfully owns certain pieces of land, but it's a country in conflict with a history of some territories having changed jurisdictions in wars that have occurred over the years, so this isn't really a surprising phenomenon for the region.

[wnwnwn]

Israel should be an ethnic jewish majority state tolerant with minorities. Now, this will dificult to be fully implemented on the long term unless Israel win finally the conflict (no Palestine led territories left).
On Palestine, the original PLO objective was to create an arab majority state similar to Syria or Nasser's Egypt.

[MarkD]

Israel is already (for the most part) a religiously tolerant and democratic state. It's illegal to discriminate based on race, ethnicity and religion in various aspects of life (and those laws are actively enforced), ethnic and religious minorities in Israel are so well-represented politically that they have their own political parties in the Knesset and anyone of any ethnic/religious background can serve on the Supreme Court, in the Knesset, as Prime Minister, President/head of state (which is not true for most Middle Eastern states).

There are frequently internal tensions between ethnic/religious groups and disputes over who rightfully owns certain pieces of land, but it's a country in conflict with a history of some territories having changed jurisdictions in wars that have occurred over the years, so this isn't really a surprising phenomenon for the region.

Great answer!

[Dr. MB]

Israel (and the Palestinian Authority) should transform into a religiously tolerant, democratic state. In its current form it's neither of those things and it would need to fundamentally restructure itself in order to conform to it.

[DK_Mo82]

This is like asking, should someone invent fire proof ice cream. Yes, it would be a nice idea.