The Current Discussion: Israel's real "existential question" is whether or not to disenfranchise its Arab minority, says Fareed Zakaria in his column this week. Is he right?

Fareed is right that how Israel treats its Arab minority is a critical test of its democracy and of whether it can maintain its character as a Jewish state. Being a Jewish state, after all, is not just about being the only country in the world with a Jewish majority, but reflecting Jewish values, such as respect for human rights, including minority rights, and treating all citizens equally.

Accordingly, I found the campaign slogan of Avigdor Lieberman's "Yisrael Beiteinu" party -- "no citizenship without loyalty" -- to be repulsive in that he seems to be advocating stripping some Arab citizens of their citizenship. He is even more clearly advocating a land swap between Israel and a future state of Palestine in which Israeli settlements would become part of Israel and some Arab towns in Israel would become part of Palestine.

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