America controlled by Israel, page 1

I don't think that Israel is a rogue state, by definition. They're a free and legitimate democracy, unlike the crooked Islamofascist government in Iran and the dictatorships in North Korea, Syria, Libya, etc. Regardless of what some people on here may believe, Israel isn't a nation that's hell-bent on destroying its neighbors.

That being said, I certainly don't support a lot of the decisions that the Israeli government has made over the years, especially in regards to their treatment of the Palestinian people. But I do understand their right to exist and their right to defend their people from acts of terror. I just feel that they fail to do anything to address the root cause of this terror- that being the extreme poverty and unemployment in the Palestinian territories and the negative influence and weapons shipments by certain outside nations.

Anyway, my personal definition of a "rogue state" would include the following: a dictatorship, theocracy or otherwise unelected regime. It could also be a government that claims to be a democracy and holds elections that are rigged and are complete farces. This nation should be a danger to its neighbors and possibly other nations around the world. They also often repress their own people and use labor camps and propaganda to mold their people into slaves of the state. They are also often completely unpredictable. They don't make what we would consider to be rational decisions, and building up their military is more important than feeding their people or building their nation's infrastructure. Of course, a rogue nation doesn't have to meet all of the above criteria. Those are just some of the things, off the top of my head, that I would use to define a rogue nation.

Now, according to "Labor Law Talk Dictionary," which I will link below (and hopefully do so correctly according to ATS rules!), the definition of "rogue nation" is...

Noun 1. rogue nation - a Third World state that possesses weapons of mass destruction and sponsors terrorism

"Labor Law Talk Dictionary" LINK

That is just the abbreviated definition. If you click on the above link, there is a more thorough explanation as well as a list of "criteria". It also states in part that the term "rogue nation" or "rogue state" is almost exclusively used by the government of the United States, and has not gained world-wide acceptance. Sort of like the Bush Administration's attempt to change the term "suicide bombing" into "homicide bombing", which as far as I can tell has only been used on occasion by Fox News.

So, the short answer after the very long answer above, is that no, I do not consider Israel to be a rogue state. But you'll find no shortage of ATS members who disagree with me, I'm sure!