Comment on “Strangers,” in Israel and America by David Rosenberg

You wrote “On the other hand, non-Jewish citizens must have all the civil and political rights of Jewish ones.”

I’ve always understood that “non-Jewish citizens must have all the civil and religious rights of Jewish ones,” but the Mandate for Palestine did not give non-Jews equal political rights , e.g., non-Jews did not have the right of self-determination to form their own government within Israel. That is, there is an important distinction between the civil right to vote and to hold office and propose changes to Israeli laws within the Israel governmental system as contrasted with the political right to say “we are a separate polity and have the right to form our own government.” I’ve understood that while all citizens have the same civil and religious rights, national and political rights are reserved to Jews.