Many of Israel’s supporters and friends are groups that advocate hatred and intolerance. Israelis need to took a good look at themselves and decide whether they want to be associated with these racist parties. Whether Israel embraces or rejects these new-found friends will say much about the character and nature of its society and the direction it decides to take with regards to its future.

In this bastion of democracy amongst an otherwise hostile terrain of authoritarian regimes and despotism, how do we reconcile natural democratic values of expression with this draconian law? Human rights organisations have begun to battle, but as the years unfold it remains to be seen how such a law will pan out and how Israel will maintain its democracy.

Israel would be in a better position if it accepted the Arab Peace Plan put forward by Saudi Arabia and addressed the sixty years of UN resolutions that deal with the unilateral decision making of the Palestinian National Authority. That way Israel would benefit from normalised relations with Arab nations, which is more conducive to its national interest.

On 17 November, the residents of Ghajar took to the streets to protest against the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval of a plan to unilaterally withdraw the Israel Defence Force (IDF) from the northern half of the village. This move is only the latest episode in the unfortunate history of Ghajar.

Revolutionary change is hard to understand, but it is even harder to predict. Whatever transpires in Libya, political tectonic waves are shifting. In the coming years, Cairo will rediscover its stature and voice; the Arab world’s sectarian cold war will move into a dangerous period; and aspirant democrats will search for models of their own, first Turkey, but perhaps eventually, Egypt.