When the Criticism Comes from Within
What stands out is not only what he says.
It is who is saying it.
A former Israeli military officer, a renowned scholar of genocide studies and Holocaust history, Bartov is now among the Israeli intellectuals arguing that the world must look honestly at the reality unfolding in Gaza.
But Bartov is not alone.
Over the past few years, other Israeli historians, academics and journalists have also spoken out publicly: Shlomo Sand, Ilan Pappé, Amos Goldberg, Shmuel Lederman, Lee Mordechai, Meron Rapoport, Gideon Levy and Amira Hass.
Whether they are ultimately right or wrong is not the purpose of this article.
What deserves attention is the fact that a profound debate now exists within Israeli society itself.
The Memory of Victims
Every nation carries its scars.
Armenians carry the memory of genocide.
The Irish carry the memory of centuries of domination.
Palestinians carry the memory of displacement and war.
Jews carry the memory of the Holocaust.
These memories should not be erased.
To forget would be a second injustice.
History must be transmitted.
Victims must be recognized.
Suffering must be remembered.
But an important question remains:
What do we do with that memory?
Repair Before Forgiveness
A powerful idea often found in Jewish tradition is that forgiveness cannot exist without recognition and repair.
It is a profound principle.
An injustice that is ignored continues to shape generations.
A wound that is denied never truly disappears.
It evolves.
It transforms.
It resurfaces elsewhere.
But once recognition has been achieved and repair has taken place, another step becomes necessary.
Mourning.
Because memory that never evolves can become a lens through which everything is interpreted.
Fear begins to replace reflection.
The past begins to replace the present.
Memory gradually stops being a shield and becomes a prison.
The Rabin Moment
To understand today's debate, it is important to remember a turning point that many have forgotten.
In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli extremist.
Rabin was not a naïve pacifist.
He was a military man.
A security-minded leader.
Yet he had come to believe that the future required a negotiated peace with the Palestinians.
His assassination did not merely remove a political leader.
It sent a message.
Compromise had become dangerous.
Moderation had become vulnerable.
For many observers, this event marked a historic turning point whose consequences are still visible today.
The Role of Silence
Elie Wiesel once wrote:
"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
This idea extends far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It applies to every society.
Every era.
Every injustice.
History shows that dangerous shifts rarely begin when extremists speak.
Extremists have always existed.
They begin when moderates stop speaking.
When intellectuals fall silent.
When journalists stop asking questions.
When citizens look away.
When fear becomes stronger than conscience.
The Voices Speaking Today
This is what makes certain Israeli voices important today.
Historians and Academics
- Omer Bartov
- Shlomo Sand
- Ilan Pappé
- Amos Goldberg
- Shmuel Lederman
- Lee Mordechai
Journalists
- Meron Rapoport
- Gideon Levy
- Amira Hass
Israeli Human Rights Organizations
- B'Tselem
- Physicians for Human Rights Israel
Their importance does not come from possessing absolute truth.
Their importance comes from refusing to abandon self-criticism.
They remind us that loving one's country does not require approving every action taken in its name.
They remind us that a democracy must preserve the ability to question itself.
They remind us that the memory of yesterday's victims does not exempt us from examining the suffering of today.
A Universal Lesson
Ultimately, this article is not only about Israel.
It is about every society.
It is about memory.
It is about justice.
It is about forgiveness.
It is about humanity's ability to learn from its own history.
History shows that nations do not become dangerous because they have suffered.
They become dangerous when they stop questioning what their suffering has become.
When memory replaces reflection.
When fear replaces dialogue.
When moderates abandon the field.
The real question is not who suffered yesterday.
The real question is what we choose to do today with that suffering.
Because memory should exist to prevent new victims.
Not to justify them.
And perhaps that is precisely what these voices from within are trying to remind us.
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