A former Israeli soldier visiting Belfast has said his society has become blind to genocide against Palestinians.
Ori Givati (35) served in the Israeli Defence Forces between 2010 to 2013, mainly stationed in the West Bank.
Raised to believe the Israeli army were “the most moral in the world,” he came to view this as a lie as daily attacks against Palestinians by Israeli settlers seemed to be enabled by soldiers.
Leaving to become a humanitarian worker exposing crimes against Palestinians, he would later find himself at the wrong end of a grenade attack from his former colleagues.
Currently with the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem, who partner with Trócaire, he is taking part in Féile discussion events in Derry and Belfast this week.
“I grew up in a very classic Israeli family in the centre of the country, I was raised to believe we have the most moral army in the world,” he told The Irish News.
“I was very motivated to join the military and since I joined I started noticing that I was actually lied to by everything around me – by the education system, by the media – about what we’re actually conducting in the West Bank.
“We’re seeing settlers attacking Palestinian communities and the military in many cases joining them and protecting them.”
With at least 70,000 people in Gaza killed since 2023, the United Nations says over 1,000 Palestinians have also been killed in the West Bank during this time including more than 230 children.
Last month, the organisation warned that settler violence has reached an “all-time high”.
Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus (Majdi Mohammed/AP) (Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
While there was no single moment that made Ori leave the army, it was a later experience in the West Bank that cemented his views.
“Settlers basically destroyed the olive groves in the village of At-Tuwani. The next morning, I was there as a civilian to see what happened with some Palestinian partners,” he said.
“The military came together with settlers from a nearby outpost and basically started shooting grenades at us.
“This was later on in the process of my political understanding, but very crucial because the military I was once part of was attacking me together with settlers.
“Imagine what it’s like that you live in your house and on a daily basis you’re being attacked, when you go to work your land, your kids on the way to school are attacked.
“It’s impossible to live this way when there’s no one to defend you.”
Former IDF soldier Ori Givati, Director of International Relations with B’Tselem outside the Trócaire office in Belfast. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN
As an Israeli, he described the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks as “one of the worst days of my life.”
“It was just horrific to see the acts committed by Hamas against civilians,” he said.
“It was also very scary to understand on that day, what is going to come next. Because we know the government leading Israel is still the most ultra-nationalist, right wing, violent racist government in Israel’s history.
“The events that unfolded after these horrific crimes were just devastating to see what Israel has been committing in Gaza since that day until today.”
Accusing the international community of effectively giving Israel a free hand in recent years, he said another major struggle was changing public opinion at home.
“It’s very sad to see Israeli society today. While there is opposition to Netanyahu’s government on many levels over (things like) corruption and internal Jewish equality issues, but when we talk about Israel’s conduct against Palestinians we don’t see any real opposition,” he said.
“Unfortunately this is where Israeli society is today. When you grow up in the framework of apartheid as the superior group for decades, one of the many elements that becomes prevalent…is that you become blind to anyone that is not you.”
Former IDF soldier Ori Givati, Director of International Relations with B’Tselem outside the Trócaire office in Belfast. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN