<When one touts Israel as the only democracy in the region, which it is, and the only civil society there having mechanisms allowing civil dissent, which it has, it makes sense to hold the political entity that is Israel to the higher standards that it claims as its own.

The criticism of other nations in the region is substantially absent because nothing better is expected of them.



Do you honestly think that this is the reason for the hypocrisy with which Israel is treated? Is the reason Arab leaders and people avoid criticising Arab dictatorships because they really think that nothing better can be expected of Arab nations? Is this the reason for the hatred of Israel in Europe? Or the United Nations?

Sounds good, but I don't buy it. Some people might even think it vaguely elitist.