Israel

What Went Wrong?

Omer Bartov

$36.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Fern Press
23 April 2026

Geopolitics

A leading genocide scholar explores the history of Zionism, Israel's lurch towards extreme oppression and violence, and why it stands accused of crimes against humanity

Professor Omer Bartov was born on a kibbutz, grew up in Tel Aviv and served in the Israel Defence Forces during the Yom Kippur War. He went on to become an expert on the German army and the Holocaust, before turning his attention to his native country.

In Israel- What Went Wrong?, Bartov explores the transformation of Zionism from a movement of Jewish emancipation and liberation into a state ideology of ethno-nationalism, exclusion and violent domination of Palestinians. He traces the process whereby Israel - whose establishment received international support in the aftermath of the Holocaust - stands accused of war crimes and genocide.

Less than eight decades after its founding in 1948 - the year in which the UN Genocide Convention was adopted in response to Nazi crimes - Bartov argues that, for the past two years, the Jewish state was engaged in a genocidal undertaking in Gaza. What are the implications of Israel's near total impunity for the post-1945 regime of international law? And how do we understand the widespread support for these policies by Israel's Jewish citizens?

Eye-opening and urgent, Israel- What Went Wrong? is a powerful and vital primer for anyone trying to understand this century's most violent and devastating conflict.

By: Omer Bartov
Imprint: Fern Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 40mm
Weight: 600g
ISBN: 9781911717706
ISBN 10: 1911717707
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 23 April 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Reviews for Israel: What Went Wrong?

The descent of Israel, once a refuge for the Holocaust’s surviving victims, into genocidal madness has revealed how little we know about the ""slaughter-bench"" of modern history. In Israel: What Went Wrong?, Omer Bartov explores the most horrifying and vexing calamity of our time with a rare combination of painful personal intimacy and impeccable scholarship. Anyone disturbed and frightened by our current moral and intellectual morass should read it -- Pankaj Mishra