Salisbury,

I'm not Chang and I'm not even Jewish, but here goes.  Israel is like every country in that you have progressive citizens and ... the others. 

South Africa was another country where people of mainly European background colonized a place and failed to respect the rights of the local people.  It took a long time to arrive at a reconciliation.  However, many white South Africans hated apartheid and fought to end it.

The same applies to Israel. Many Israelis want to live in harmony with their neighbors, but there many others who pretty much just spit on the Palestinians.  This includes a large religious contingent that thinks God gave them what is now the West Bank. This is "unhelpful", as the diplomats like to put it.

It's important not to generalize and talk about Israel as a single, homogeneous entity.  There are many fine people in Israel.

I agree with you that Sharon and others are examples of very poor leaders.  In the long run these people are not serving the interests of the Israel I admire so much. 

Norbert