How can Israel maintain its status as the only 'democracy' in the middle east ?

By preventing other arab countries and specially palestinians from accessing true democracy, through different means: maintaining a military approach of might and superpower to neighboring countries, threatening and intimidating them, processes by which economic and social development are hindered (Syria for example has to maintain an army because of the hostile neighbourhood of israel and the Golan occupation), encouraging, along with the US, sectarian and religious regimes, and recently, hindering the voting process by interfering in the coming palestinian elections.

In the sixties, two of the arab countries who share borders with Israel had secular regimes (Syria and Irak); Israel signed peace deals only with the others, a monarchy and a military regime (Jordan and Egypte). Now, after they lit the sectarian tensions in Irak and threw the country into a civil war, they are refusing to open peace talks with Syria and putting pressure on the international community to isolate the syrian regime, paving the way for ethnic and religious tensions in the whole area.
Israelis can brag about being the only 'democracy' in the middle east, however, they are an ethnic and apartheid state, an occupation and colonial force, not different from any military, dictatorial, ugly and unjust regime surviving only by force, impeding development and progress in neighbouring countries and opressing its own non-jewish arab population !
Please, don't tell me this is a democracy !