As I read an article this past week about the 75th anniversary of the founding of Israel, I found myself wondering, for a few moments, whether I was actually reading about Israel or the United States.
Israel has been contending with a hyper-religious, ultra-Orthodox contingent in its government that is very influential regarding national policies. Since December of last year, Israel’s government has taken a hard turn to the right, guided by ultraconservative, extremist lawmakers who have strong authoritarian tendencies and who have no intention of negotiating with the Palestinians regarding their statehood. The history of the Palestinian territories has been fraught with dizzying complexity since 1916, around the time of World War I.
