The people Israel is not racially or ethnically different from the peoples abutting them, anymore than Abraham is racially or ethnically different from his unchosen brothers, or Jacob/ Israel from his unchosen twin, Esau. The origin of the difference lies in a mysterious and gracious - and, to some, infuriatingly arbitrary - gift of God: it is motivated by his love for them.

"The Love of God", Jon D. Levenson, p.46