Interesting post there. But the Arab you talked to lived in Israel proper, right? Would an Arab who lived in the “occupied” West Bank be as friendly to you? And would he be as friendly to an Israeli Jew?
He probably lived in "Israel proper" but I couldn't be sure. I think that gas station was in Jerusalem. Some consider parts of Jerusalem as "occupied," but I doubt the Arab sections are very different from the way they were before 1948 except that they have to use Israeli currency and Israeli postage stamps. You hear their calls to prayer and other Arabic swill being blared from loudspeakers.
Speaking of "an" Arab in the "West Bank" is probably a mistake. There are the leaders who seem to feel they have to peddle the anti-Israel line, and those who follow them. But I suspect that more than a few of the little people are ready to move on. (Just a guess on my part. I drive through the "West Bank," but except for Qumran, I've never stopped there. Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered and is completely administered by Israelis.)
ML/NJ