Israel always touts itself as the only democracy in the Middle East in spite of what others inside and outside the area may think. However, though this is the message from the Zionist state of Israel, it seems to differ from the view held by those ordinary Jewish citizens of that state.
In a recent poll held in Israel the findings point to anything but democratic aims of a society. The poll results found that the majority of Israeli Jews believe that the state practises apartheid. Also revealed in the findings of the poll was the fact that this was not against the wishes of the Jewish citizens. A third of those who took part in the poll believed that Israeli Arabs should be denied the vote, with 47% wanting the Israeli Arabs to be stripped of their citizenship rights. Another disturbing finding from the poll is that 59% of those polled believed that Jews should be given preference to public sector jobs over Israeli Arabs, with 50% stating that Jews should be better treated than Israeli Arabs. Even more disturbing is that 40% polled, believed that there should be separate housing and classrooms for Jews and Israeli Arabs. It should be noted that Israeli Arabs make up about 20% of the population of the Israeli state.
So much for the only democratic state in the Middle East.