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Let's be honest: discrimination against Arabs exists in Israel.

The reality is that Israel is a multi-ethnic, multireligious society, and it makes no sense to insist as a precondition for peace that its neighbors recognize it as 'the Jewish state.'

For the Arabs in Israel there is always a tension between nationality and identity.

The driving force for the Arabs is hatred of Israel. Hatred of the Jewish people.

Israeli Arabs have more political rights than any other Arabs in the Middle East, including their compatriots in the Palestinian Authority.

I grew up feeling Israel is very important, and I'm very supportive of Israel. At the same time, I think you can be really supportive of Israel and not look at it as a black-and-white situation.

I have a very clear view, which is that if you disagree with the policies of Israel, fine, say so, but that is never a reason to take that out on Jewish communities.

People are feeling and sensing a return of anti-Semitism - even in Europe, which, seventy years after the Holocaust, is a very scary thing. I think they are feeling that Israel is very isolated and doesn't always get what they see as fair treatment in the European media.

Many occasions I've sat down with Israelis to say, where do you see your country in 10 years time, and work me back, so we can figure out the synergies and the connections between Israel and the rest of the Arab world. No Israeli has ever been able to answer that question.

Although my stance on responsible citizenship made sense to many Israelis, the intelligentsia could not, as you say in English, get their heads around it. 'Racist' and 'fascist' were the knee-jerk reactions.