It can be claimed that Israeli society is as polarized as it has ever been. Critical rifts run through: secular vs. religious, Jewish vs. Muslim, immigrant vs. native, and many others within those labels as well as across them.
Recently, a group of Jewish teenagers beat an Arab teenager to within inches of his life (he has since been released). Unsurprising to many observers, a general lack of enmity toward Arabs by religious Jewish populations may have been an underlying cause. Many Israelis recognize the inevitability of coexistence and the two-state solution - the alternative is all-out war and annihilation. However, some continue to believe that they are participating in a zero-sum game. In reality, the situation is one where both sides can benefit. It is therefore positive to see that Israel ordered its schools to discuss the beating, as well as the feelings that may have fueled it. What would be even more positive would be to see would be for this incident to be labeled, officially speaking, racist and the charges being level with the hate crime category in the United States. The government should take the stance that this kind of activity will not be tolerated in the society that Israel seeks to build.
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