Omer Bartov keynote speaker at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences 2022. Image by Bildungsstätte Anne Frank. CC BY 3.0 to 4.0 

In his book Israel: What Went Wrong? published in April 2026 by Professor Omer 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 in 1948 received international support in the aftermath of the Holocaust – now faces accusations of war crimes and genocide.

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?

The book is one of eight finalists for the 2026 Orwell Prizes. Winners will be announced at the Prize Ceremony on 25 June 2026 at the Bloomsbury Theatre, University College London. It is available on Amazon.

Bartov is the Dean’s Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University and the author of many books. He 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 the video below Bartov and Gideon Levy Debate Zionism. Levy is a columnist and a member of the editorial board of Haaretz, an Israeli daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel.