Nice opinion piece in Maariv about the over-emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the cause of all problems in the Middle East

For decades Arabs have murdered one another in numbers that dwarf Palestinian casualties. None of that bloodletting can be remotely connected to Israel. Saddam Hussein's decision to invade Iran, at a cost of millions of lives on both sides, and subsequently to invade Kuwait had nothing to do with Israel. And the same is true of Hafez al-Assad's killing of 25,000 of his subjects in Hama, and the brutal, ongoing civil wars in Algeria, Somalia, and Sudan, which have claimed millions of lives. ... Israel is not the cause for the Arab failure to join the modern world, but rather the excuse that Arab leaders require to distract their subjects from their ignorance, poverty, and lack of freedom.

I don't know that I agree with the Kerry-bashing towards the end, nor with the criticism of previous administrations. But still, it's a point worth noting and it's really pitiful how quickly an Arab will respond to criticism of their own country with a excuse of "at least we're not as bad as Israel."

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