A Genocide Scholar Asks “What Went Wrong” in Israel

In this powerful episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour, host David Remnick speaks with Omer Bartoff, an Israeli-born historian and professor at Brown University, about his evolving perspective on Israel and the conflict with Palestine. Bartoff, a scholar of the Holocaust and genocide, recounts his personal journey from unquestioning Zionism to a critical reckoning with his homeland’s actions, particularly after the October 7th attacks and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. He describes the shock of October 7th as eerily reminiscent of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and reflects on how his military service in occupied territories first awakened his moral unease. His turning point came during the First Intifada, when he dared to write to then-Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin criticizing the military’s brutal response, a moment that revealed the moral corrosion he saw unfolding in Israeli society. Bartoff argues that Israel’s war in Gaza, especially the May 2024 assault on Rafah, constitutes a genocide under the UN definition due to the intent to destroy the Palestinian population in part, facilitated by genocidal rhetoric and the blockade of escape routes. He contends that the U.S. has enabled this through unwavering military and diplomatic support, and that only external pressure—particularly from Washington—can force a reckoning in Israel. Despite the deep trauma and alienation he feels, Bartoff remains committed to truth-telling, even at great personal cost, and calls for a radical reimagining of Israel as a state for all its citizens, not just one ethno-nationalist ideology.