Democracies are always local.

Was the US a liberal democracy during WWII when it cluster bombed Germany and Japan?

Think about the context here: how South Korea in the 80s was treating its own people.

Israel is a democracy within its local population despite being surrounded by enemies.

Therefore, having an enemy at the border is not a good excuse for a military dictatorship.

I haven't been to Gaza, but I grew up in South Korea in the 80s. If half of what I see in the news is true, how Israel treats people of Gaza is much worse than how South Korea treated people of Seoul in 80s.

Put another way, I'm sure even Pyongyang has some happy citizens. Even dictators usually let some local population live happily. The trick is being part of the right local population.

Gaza is practically enemy territory for Israel ..

Containment as a foreign policy led to extremely bad outcomes globally, as did colonialism. It wasn't just SK treating it's citizens poorly, it was the vast majority of second and third world countries that had a history of colonial subjugation. Looked through the lens of colonialism, it makes perfect sense.

Of course not.