Book Review

Israel: What Went Wrong? by Omer Bartov review – the long view

An erudite account of the foundation of the state and its subsequent moral and political decline

Avi Shlaim

The Guardian: 9 May 2026

Israel’s attack on Iran is only the most recent example of its degeneration in recent decades, coming on top of its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, genocide in Gaza, invasion of Syria and relentless bombardment of Lebanon. The fact that the US joined in this illegal war confirmed to many in the region what they have long suspected: that the country is an outpost of western imperialism in the Middle East.

The state of Israel, which arose from the ashes of the Holocaust 77 years ago, has received an unprecedented degree of international sympathy and support ever since. This support was partly due to western guilt and partly due to the perception of the Jewish state as an island of democracy in a sea of authoritarianism. The country’s Declaration of Independence promised to uphold “the full social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of race, creed or sex”. In the early years of statehood, Israel was seen in the west as an icon of liberal, progressive and egalitarian society.

Today, it is widely regarded as an immoral, violent, cruel and oppressive apartheid state. The Israeli response to the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 was a major milestone in the gradual slide to its status as an international pariah. Israel claimed the right to self-defence, but proceeded to act in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. The international court of justice in The Hague found that there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered Israel to take a series of measures to stop it. Israel, as is its wont, ignored the ruling. A UN commission concluded that Israel was, in fact, guilty of genocide. The international criminal court issued a warrant for the arrest of the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes. The Israeli state thus stands credibly accused of war crimes, of crimes against humanity, and even of the crime of crimes – genocide.

The moral and political degradation of Israel is the subject of this remarkable book. The author, Omer Bartov, has impeccable credentials for writing it: he was born on a kibbutz, he served as an officer in the IDF, and is currently professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University in the US. It is dedicated to his father, Hanoch Bartov, “the last Zionist”, a reference to the liberal brand of Zionism to which the whole family were evidently dedicated. Yet this book is written more in sorrow than in anger. Its goal is not to condemn Zionism but to explain its evolution from a dream to a nightmare.

More killings of paramedics:

Ahmad Noura and Hussein Jaber

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 13 people in southern Lebanon, state media say, where a ceasefire has failed to stop the war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Overnight, six people were killed and seven others were injured when a house in Kfar Dounine was hit, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).

On Tuesday afternoon, Lebanon's health ministry said two paramedics from the state-run Lebanese Civil Defense emergency service were killed and a third was injured in an Israeli strike on Nabatieh, as they carried out a rescue mission in response to an earlier attack that killed one person.

Lebanon says two paramedics among 13 killed in Israeli strikes - BBC News

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed "sadness and regret at the killing of two Civil Defence members" in Nabatieh - who were identified as Hussein Jaber and Ahmad Noura - and emphasised that "the continued Israeli aggression hinders efforts to restore calm".

The health ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the paramedics.

36 minutes ago, bannork said:

More killings of paramedics:

Ahmad Noura and Hussein Jaber

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 13 people in southern Lebanon, state media say, where a ceasefire has failed to stop the war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Overnight, six people were killed and seven others were injured when a house in Kfar Dounine was hit, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).

On Tuesday afternoon, Lebanon's health ministry said two paramedics from the state-run Lebanese Civil Defense emergency service were killed and a third was injured in an Israeli strike on Nabatieh, as they carried out a rescue mission in response to an earlier attack that killed one person.

Lebanon says two paramedics among 13 killed in Israeli strikes - BBC News

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed "sadness and regret at the killing of two Civil Defence members" in Nabatieh - who were identified as Hussein Jaber and Ahmad Noura - and emphasised that "the continued Israeli aggression hinders efforts to restore calm".

The health ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the paramedics.

IOW, no Hezbollah fighters, just the innocents.