Israel

There are three main connections between World War 1 and Israel:

The Sinai and Palestine Campaign: Contrary to what is taught in many schools, there was more to World War 1 than the Western European front which tore up large areas of northeastern France. One of the four other major theatres of conflict was in the Middle East. The British had a strong military position along the Egyptian-Ottoman border in the Sinai Peninsula (this is roughly equivalent to the modern Egyptian-Israeli border). In 1916 and 1917, British generals attempted to enter Ottoman Palestine on four separate occasions. On the last thrust, British General Allenby was able to advance and take the Ottomans by surprise at Beersheba. He continued a successful advance all the way to northern Israel by 1918 (including the Battle of Megiddo).

The Regional Militias: During World War 1, numerous Jewish Settlers in Ottoman Palestine and numerous Arab inhabitants of the area wished to rise up against Ottoman rule in order to assert their own independence. The British chose to arm and train groups of Jews and Arabs to fight alongside the main British army and help defeat the Ottoman Turks. The Jewish Militias would eventually become the Haganah and Palmach in the Post-War climate. The Arab Militias would eventually become the Holy War Army and the Arab Liberation Army. These sets of militias would fight each other nearly continuously over the course of the British Mandate for Palestine and would finally begin a full-scale war in September of 1947. This conflict eventually escalated in May of 1948 to an international war after Israel declared independence.

The Mandate for Palestine: In order to gain financial support of wealthy British Zionists for the war effort and to gain recruits for the Jewish Militias in Ottoman Palestine, the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration. Subsequently, the League of Nations issued the British an agreement outlining the purpose of the British Mandate for Palestine, namely to assist Jewish organizations in the creation of a Jewish National Homeland. It was as a result of the Ottoman defeat in World War 1 that Ottoman Palestine became British Palestine and subject to this new trajectory, a trajectory that would eventually lead to the Establishment of the State of Israel.

Answer 1

An excellent question. Many have said that it's because of the ubiquitous heavy anti-Israel bias.

Answer 2

There are several major reasons why more people and more media outlets are concerned with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict than the much more lethal Syrian and Iraqi Insurgencies. For clarity's sake, as of August 7, 2014, less than 2,000 Palestinians have killed and around 300,000 have been internally displaced. Conversely, in the Syrian and Iraqi insurgencies, 190,000 Arabs have been killed cumulatively and at least 5,000,000 people have been displaced, with minorities disproportionately affected.

1) Unified Voice: On the Israeli-Palestinian questions, most people have implicitly chosen a side. Particularly in Muslim communities, there is almost unanimous support for Palestine and unanimous hatred and revilement towards Israel. In many Muslim communities, individuals who are openly Pro-Israel are attacked or beaten until their opinions change, preventing whatever small number of Pro-Israel Muslims from voicing their views. As a result if there is a desire to protest the actions of Israel, there is already a unified Muslim voice opposing Israel that can easily be corralled.

By contrast ISIL, the jihadist organization which has been responsible for re-instituting Taliban-like rule in Sunni dominated regions of Syria and Iraq, is a controversial question among Muslims, especially in the West. There is a strong argument, supported by older and more conservative Muslims that secularism is desirable because it allows everybody the ability to make Islam work for them. Many youths find that the West is full of moral depravity and, therefore, a religious theocracy would be desirable. Young Western Muslims have gone in the thousands to fight on either side of this conflict. As a result, there is no unified voice as to who to condemn and who to support.

2) Anti-Semitism: Vilifying Israel is seen as a socially-acceptable form of Anti-Semitism. While there are valid arguments to made against the State of Israel (see Anti-Zionism below), statements such endorsing the Nazis or Hitler, firebombing synagogues, posting pictures of European Jews and inciting for their murder on Facebook, are clear expressions of Anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites use the increase in Anti-Israel sentiment in order to promote their beliefs as well.

3) Racism of Lowered Expectations: Westerners do not often say this openly, but they do not often expect Non-Whites to behave as morally upright as they expect Whites to behave. For example, Mormons are often legally targeted for their polygamous marriages which are illegal. Arabs and Desis (Indians) are not similarly legally targeted, because it might "offend their culture" and cultural sensitivity is seen as desirable. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the Israelis are judged according to the "White" standard and required to be more moral than their Arab enemies. Conversely, there is an "expectation" that Arabs will kill each other as they do in great numbers in Syria and Iraq. This double-standard is racist and demeaning to the value of every Arab life lost from Arab-led violence.

4) Apocalyptic Narratives: Many apocalyptic religious Jews, Christians, and Muslims see the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as being the prelude to the first coming of the Messiah, the return of Jesus Christ, or the coming of the Mahdi respectively. As a result, religious individuals of all faiths are watching the conflict closely for signs of the "impending" apocalypse. Far fewer people eye the Syrian and Iraqi insurgencies with the same apocalyptic zeal.

5) Anti-Colonialism and Anti-Zionism: Since Israel was formed by Jews immigrating to Israel from places outside of Israel, there are a number of ethnic Europeans and Muslims who see Israel as one of the last colonial countries. They see promoting the Palestinians over the Israelis as part of the process of undoing the horrors of colonialism and making up for their mixed feelings concerning the creation of colonies in the Americas which completely supplanted the indigenous population, but are now strong, functioning societies. Additionally, there are those who simply oppose the right for Jews to have a state, which is Anti-Zionism. Of course, none of these things are issues in Syria and Iraq, since those countries are ruled by "native" populations, regardless of the fact that they are less majoritarian or respectful of their minorities than Israel.