No, that’s not what I said at all. Your complaint was about state-stipulated religion; well, lots of countries have state religion. Point being, even if Israel did, so what?

No, my original complaint (at the top) was with insisting that Palestinians call Israel - a land they consider to be taken to them - a Jewish homeland. That’s not the way to start a negotiation.

As for religion associated with the state, a key reason the Iranian government is so alien is that it is a theocracy. The fact that Britain still has an official state religion is fairly denatured these days, and has little meaning (it is an anachronism even to brits). That isn’t the case in Israel right now, which I why I brought up marriage.

So what, as you say: maybe…but still something Americans aren’t instinctively in favor of. Like I said, Americans do tend to prefer secular government, even if a loud minority do not.

Re: ethnicity, why single it out that it must change its right of return policies, when no one else is being scolded to do so?

I wouldn’t say “no one else.” You gave one example of ethnic germans from eastern bloc nations. It’s generally enshrined as UN policy that diaspora populations have a right to return. Given that Israel was created (originally) as a UN fabrication, I should think that should have particular resonance for Israelis.

Jewish state…which is what Israel is. Expecting that aspect to be negotiated away is not going to happen, nor should it.

You’re right, practically speaking, it isn’t something that will be negotiated away. But, the brits didn’t insist on the Irish opposition to concede the essential english character of northern ireland. Not a perfect analogy, but the parallels exist.

Neither should Israel. Besides, when the person touting the rejection (in the article) is Lieberman, a man who questions whether Arab Israelis should even be citizens, it has a lot more importance. Jewishness is a club that Israeli Arabs can never be a part of. They can be Israeli, yes. Jewish, no.

No Palestinian government will ever concede that. They’ll concede Israel’s right to exist, but they won’t call their former homes the homeland of the people who took the land from them.