The state of Israel seems to owe its very existence to the American Jewish vote, while at the same time consigning the non-religious to political oblivion.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It pains me to see the gap that exists in the public's consciousness - religious and secular - between the notion of Israel as a Jewish state and as a democratic state.
There is no question that Israelis - indeed, all concerned Jews - have to continue to work out a Jewish public philosophy that truly justifies a Jewish state in the land of Israel.
The idea that the State of Israel could be democracy only for its Jewish citizens is unconscionable, and we must find a way to address this.
We are fighting to keep Israel a democracy - not just in terms of its electoral system but also in terms of its values.
We want Israel as a democratic and Jewish state. So you have to maintain a Jewish majority, and you want to do that by legal means, by democratic means.
I have reached a conclusion that when we have to make a choice between greater Israel or a Jewish democratic state - and we have to make this choice, it is inevitable - then my choice is a Jewish democratic country.
Since Israel is a democratic state surrounded by essentially undemocratic states which have sworn her destruction, those interested in democracy everywhere must support Israel's existence.
We cannot keep the Jewish state without being a democratic state.
The burden is on the Jewish majority in Israel to prove that the definition of their country as Jewish and democratic is not a contradiction.
Judaism will be enmeshed in pride and shame for as long as it endures. But to endure as a country, Israel must shun both these tendencies.
No opposing quotes found.