Israel the Model

Lee Smith argues in Tablet that the Arab model for success is not Iran or Turkey, but Israel. It is the only properly functioning democracy in the region, its human rights record is vastly superior to all the local alternatives, and its economy is one of the most vibrant on earth. If the citizens of Arab countries don’t wish to repeatedly take to the streets to overthrow one despotic tyranny after another, and if they don’t want their future to resemble some Mad Max dystopia, they must imitate the country they’ve been brought up to hate. They don’t have to realize that’s what they’re doing, but they have to do it.