PM: Israeli Arabs have it good, ‘extremists’ trying to ruin progress

Responding to protests by Arab Israelis against home demolitions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says on Facebook he wants them to be normal members of Israeli society, but says “extremists” within their community are trying to take them backwards.

Netanyahu posits that Israeli Arabs don’t know how good they have it, and cites as an example a recent incident when a protesters interrupted a Syrian opposition figure during a lecture at Hebrew University to decry Israeli government policies and call him a traitor for speaking to Israel.

The rebel responded that they should be ashamed, as they are “living in a paradise.”

“That’s true, not only compared to Syria, but also compared to many countries in the Middle East and around the world,” Netanyahu writes.