"these two groups have fundamentally different visions of Israel's future, with the First Israel seeking to be a 'normal state' like the United States or France, while the Second Israel seeks to embrace its 'sharia law' * over cosmopolitanism... this divide has concrete implications for policy and governance in Israel, with issues such as gender segregation at prayer events"

* it's not sharia law obviously, it's Jewish vs Islamic but still, lots of similar stuff?

>“We’re here because we want this to be a normal state, you understand?” she said, “just like the United States or France or Germany. We don’t want this country to be taken over by those fanatics with their beards and their religion.”

I think its important to point out that Israel has never (and may never) be considered a normal state since it has been practicing apartheid against the Arabs [1].

It started with the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Native Arabs from over 530 villages and towns. These expelled, exiled, and stateless human beings are still living in refugee camps.

That's not a democracy and it's not normal.

[1] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-... https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/19/israeli-apartheid-thresh... https://www.btselem.org/apartheid ... etc.

Well yeah all fundamentalists are a bit similar, banning abortions on religious grounds in the U.S is also similar.

Wow excellent point. It’s like that show the handmaids tale were eventually you get to that full lockdown.

It's also a global issue too, lots of autocrats rising up around the world all over south america, europe, and asia