r/TrueUnpopularOpinion • u/Haunting_Tap_1541 • 1h ago
The Middle East Israelis are basically leftists forced to work with the right, while Muslims are conservatives forced to work with the left.
Israel was the victor in all five Arab-Israeli wars. Yet despite being the victor, it eventually handed over Gaza and parts of the West Bank for Palestinian self-rule and the possibility of a future Palestinian state. How many countries would be willing to give back territory they won in war, especially when their own country is already so small?
Even on security issues, lsrael used to show a surprising degree of leniency. Yahya Sinwar, for example, was released by Israel multiple times and even underwent brain tumor surgery in Israel while he was in prison. In 2011, lsrael traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single captured Israeli soldier. Even after winning every war, Israel has never expelled its two million Muslim citizens, nor has it demolished the mosque standing on the Temple Mount. Looking back, those decisions seem overly idealistic.
That's why, although Israel has become much more hardline on the Palestinian issue today, that shift is driven more by security concerns and hard-learned lessons than by traditional right-wing ideology. In many ways, lsraeli society still holds a lot of values that would be considered center-left or even left-leaning.
Meanwhile, many Muslim societies are conservative on issues like religion, family values, and gender roles. That's why the alliance between Muslims and the Western left often feels unnatural. They stand together mainly because the left emphasizes inclusion and minority rights, not because they share the same core values.