Boston.com posted a story today about some recent remarks about Israel by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton stated that she was worried about the future of Israel’s democracy and the rights of women in that country.

These are amazing statements. Israel is one of two functioning democracies in the Middle East–the other one is Turkey, which is in danger of becoming an Islamic state where women will have very few rights. The ‘Arab Spring’ supposedly brought democracy to a number of countries in the Middle East, but we are now watching those countries turn into Islamic states with Sharia law, which gives very few rights to women.

Israel does practice segregation of the sexes on buses that serve the Ultra Orthodox Jewish community on routes to religious neighborhoods in Israel.That is not limiting women’s rights–it is respecting Orthodox Jewish tradition. However, I have never heard Mrs. Clinton address the fact that women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive.

I just don’t think Israel is the problem in the Middle East with regard to women’s rights.