As ever, the international media is full of crisis events – the murdering in Aleppo or the childish debate between two seemingly mature American politicians. However, quietly and without too much drama, something significant happened in the Middle East. There again, as somebody once said, miracles are supposed to happen in the Holy Land?

I am not talking about how two top British politicians and foes since schooldays, Johnson and Cameron, amazingly managed to patch things up over a whisky in a Jerusalem bar. Nor am I referring to the fact that Charles Prince of Wales surreptitiously visited a Jerusalem church to pay homage to the grave of his grandmother…….despite the pathetic attempts to keep the event ‘hush hush’.

Dig deeper and look again.

First, Israel has just appointed two lawyers of Ethiopian backgrounds to become judges. And they are female. While the Ethiopian community still sufferers from discrimination from specific sections of society, this decision is a significant step forward towards greater integration.

And second, if we are talking of women, it is time to praise the Israeli army, a bastion of male domination. According to an article in the Hebrew press: –

• 85% of all jobs in the military are now fully open to the female sex.
• 8% of all female recruits now have a combat role, up 400% since 2012.
• 24% of all technology based jobs are filled by women, and this stat is growing annually.
• It is evident that sooner rather than later several women will be members of the general staff

In other words, in a country were both the ultra orthodox and Arab communities are very conservative in nature and which has a police force that has been riddled with sex scandals, the Israeli army is showing others that an alternative route is possible.

And the question remains: Where else in the Middle East would you find such a determination to create a more equal and fairer society?  I suggest to you that the answer is only in Israel.