Is this true in your experience Cumol?

It is. Family is still an important factor in Israel/Palestine, no matter where you look. Even though it feels like it is losing its importance slowly in the Arab-Israeli and Arab-Jewish population. This is even more prominent in the "Ashkenazi" Jewish population (west European and American).

The innate distrust of authority is well present. On different levels. In some case its distrust of the police (in my hometown, 1 murder a week for the past 5 years, no suspects) or distrust of the government with its corruption (I can't think of a recent minister or MP who was not charged with corruption, including Netanyahu).

During my last visit home, I accompanied my father to a client (he is an architect) who wanted to build a house on top of her parent's house. The family was Iraqi-Jewish, and it turns out that the grandma still speaks a few words of arabic.

My father and the client left to discuss business and I decided to chat the grandma up. I taught her some of the newer Arabic curse words (her arsenal was a little bit outdated). She still remembered the time she was a child in Iraq. Told me about her Arabic neighbors and how awesome her childhood was. Then her parents moved to Israel in the 60s. Back then, there was no wall, so they would drive to the neighboring Tul-Karem (now in the West Bank) for shopping and hummus. Now they can't anymore.

She was sad. She said that she has nothing against her Arab neighbors and would like to visit them again. And then she whispered to me: "They should take down that wall and let us leave together".

One awesome grandma :)

I really hope that at some point we will have a government that would just let us live and stop provoking. I get angry every time I hear that new settlements are built. This is not helping, this conflict needs time without provocations, from any side. And less power to the religious, they are fucking up everything.