Archive photo: Netanyahu and former Police Chief Roni Alsheich.

How did it come about that in the political and legal spectacle surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a killed “terrorist” was acquitted after more than three years? Circumstances and detours helped bring the truth to light.

“Not all Arabs are terrorists. Not all leftists are traitors. Not every Orthodox Jew is a thief. Also, not all Jewish settlers murdered Yitzhak Rabin. Not all Tel Avivians are vegans. Not all Netivot residents are traditional Jews, and not all religious Jews are primitive people with tzitzit (tassels) who’ve never heard of Darwin.” So goes the song “Wikipedia” by popular Israeli singer Hanan Ben Ari.

It is true that we in Israeli society tend to quickly classify people according to their appearance, language, religion, political affiliations and social status. Jewish settlers are immediately denounced as right-wing extremists, residents of Tel Aviv are automatically condemned as leftists, and Orthodox Jews as parasites and thieves. Arabs are either suspected or slandered as terrorists. We put people in boxes without...