It was pointed out that it feels uncomfortable to be seen criticising "our own" - but that's not a good enough reason not to do it. Just as it pained my parents to punish me for skipping school and honing my snooker skills, they did it nonetheless, with an eye on the bigger picture. It was also mentioned by the older diners at our table that I didn't understand, because I didn't live through World War II and the creation of the state - and thus didn't get what Israel means to the Jewish people. "It is our bolthole, our refuge for when anti-semitism rears its ugly head..." I was told. But that's just it. It is our refuge, it is our country - fine. That's a given - and the state's not gonna disappear just because we criticise it when necessary. The opposite, in fact - in order for it to survive, we must give it the tools it needs to get on with its neighbours, to learn to play fair, and to merit respect in the eyes of the world.

Later on in the conversation at dinner, my grandfather asked me if he had as much right to comment on Israel as an Israeli does. I replied that yes, he does - every Jew is a citizen of Israel (due to the right of return), though it's each person's choice whether they take it up or not. Israel, for good or bad, was given to each of the world's Jews in 1948 - and thus it is the responsibility of every one of us, wherever we may be, to stand up and tell it where it is going wrong, whenever the need arises.