TEL AVIV — Many people in the world would like you to believe that Israelis are callous — but this is simply untrue. While visiting Israel last week (through a trip sponsored by the non-profit Exigent Foundation), I was moved by the empathy that many locals showed towards their Palestinian neighbours, despite the horrors of the past year. It was an educational contrast to the extremism so often seen, from both sides, in other parts of the world.