Israel is a little Middle Eastern democracy surrounded by enemies. “Israel has the right to defend itself” means Israel is allowed to protect its citizens from rocket attacks coming from Gaza, Lebanon, or even from Iranian forces based in Syria. Tough neighborhood, we know.

In the last few years, Israel has signed historic peace agreements with countries that have never had diplomatic relations with Israel in the past: the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Finally some good news from the Middle East!

After the great exile more than 2000 years ago, Jews have fled the Land of Israel to Asia, Africa, and Europe in search of a safe haven. When the State of Israel was founded back in 1948 as the revived homeland of the Jewish people, Jews were then finally able to return from the countries in which they lived until then. That makes Israel a melting pot of people from countries like Morocco, Iraq, Germany, Ethiopia, Yemen, former USSR countries, France, the Netherlands, India, Poland, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Turkey, and Italy, to name but a few.

Jews make up 74% of the Israeli population, the rest being Arab Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouins, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Circassians, Armenians, and Samaritans. So, pretty diverse.

Zionism is the right for the Jewish people to have a state in the Land of Israel, after 2000 years of exile, on the basis of a long Jewish historical connection and attachment to that land. Zionism means that after so many years, Jews have finally returned home.

No.

Israel and Egypt do impose security measures to prevent the influx of weapons, ammunition, military equipment, and other materials which can be used for terror purposes by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terror factions in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with due international law. These measures are taken to prevent the stockpiling of weapons, ammo and rockets that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip use against Israel while holding their own citizens hostage. While doing that, Israel is simultaneously continuing to expand humanitarian aid and goods flowing into Gaza to support its inhabitants.