This article delves into the complex and painful topic of how Israeli society grapples with the realities of the conflict in Gaza, particularly concerning accusations of genocide. It’s a tough read, not just because of the subject matter, but because it challenges us to understand how people can simultaneously acknowledge and deny terrible truths. The author starts by highlighting a significant moral tightrope: if we say Israelis are fully aware of atrocities and their denials are just propaganda, we might miss the deeper, more nuanced ways society consents to and justifies violence. But on the flip side, portraying them as victims of elaborate disinformation risks absolving them of any moral responsibility, which feels wrong. The article suggests a path through this dilemma, drawing on Stanley Cohen’s idea of the “colonial gaze”—a kind of double vision where people both “know” and “don’t know.” Israelis, it argues, are aware that their media offers a comfortable version of reality, leading them to actively avoid international news. This isn’t a passive ignorance; it’s an active choice to steer clear of information that would challenge their worldview, meaning they must, on some level, know there are unsettling truths they are avoiding.
This “dual gaze” isn’t new. The article points out that Israelis have historically denied the Nakba—the displacement of Palestinians in 1948—while sometimes even regretting that Ben-Gurion didn’t “finish the job,” and even threatening a “second Nakba” if Palestinians demand freedom. This contradictory way of thinking, according to the author, is essential for maintaining colonial power. However, even the most skilled practitioners of this double vision eventually face a crisis when reality becomes too overwhelming to ignore. Cohen’s work helps us understand how denial, misinformation, and self-deception can be powerful without giving society a free pass by saying, “we didn’t know.” He studied various forms of collective denial, including in Israel, and even drew a parallel to the Mauthausen concentration camp, suggesting an unspoken agreement between authorities and the public: authorities hide the atrocities, and the public doesn’t try too hard to find them. Recent articles confirm this, showing how these mechanisms of denial have been honed over decades of occupation, reaching unprecedented levels during the current conflict in Gaza, pushing this system to its breaking point.
The cracks in this system are becoming visible. The article points to a distressing rise in suicides and suicide attempts among Israeli soldiers, alongside military psychiatrists warning of “moral injuries.” This growing internal turmoil, coupled with increasing global outrage, suggests that the “dual gaze” is faltering. This double vision, while a powerful tool for enabling the ongoing violence, can’t hold up forever. The truth, the author argues, eventually emerges, and without it, Israeli society faces disintegration. The concept of “willed ignorance” is then introduced—a deliberate governmental strategy to use flawed information to justify actions that are bound to fail. In Israel’s case, this “willed ignorance” runs deep, becoming psychologically complex, almost as if knowing the full truth has become genuinely dangerous for individuals. A powerful example is given of a Haaretz journalist, Nir Hasson, who, after detailing horrific incidents in Gaza, couldn’t bring himself to answer whether it was genocide, saying, “I am afraid to answer because I have to raise children here.” This response speaks volumes about the personal cost of confronting uncomfortable truths.
The article explains that the rise in soldier suicides often comes at later stages of the conflict, when the initial barrage of disinformation starts to unravel, and soldiers begin to realize they’ve been lied to. This disinformation campaign was aggressive from the start, as illustrated by a Knesset member’s callous remark that Palestinian children “brought it upon themselves.” Another subtle yet significant example of “willed ignorance” is the deliberate mispronunciation of “Hamas” by Israelis. By consistently pronouncing it as “Khamas,” they are actively refusing to acknowledge the movement’s actual name and its full meaning (“Islamic Resistance Movement”), effectively rendering it meaningless. While disinformation is a component, it alone isn’t enough to prove genocidal intent. The next, more chilling, stage involves outright calls to violence—dehumanizing Palestinians as “human animals” or “monsters,” and explicitly advocating for “flattening” or “burning” Gaza. These statements, the article asserts, have been well-documented and reveal a clear genocidal intent.
The mechanisms of denial are not only complex but also create a dangerous feedback loop: the fear of truth fuels fantasies of finishing the genocide and eliminating witnesses. This terror of being held accountable contributes to the genocidal drive. As Israelis begin to realize that survivors will remain to testify, strategies shift to find alibis, blaming social media or AI. Threats of antisemitism are exaggerated to prevent Israeli Jews from leaving, and most disturbingly, victims are blamed for the crimes committed against them. An example cited is a documentary blaming social media for manipulating global consciousness against Israel, conveniently ignoring how Hamas, without vast resources, could supposedly manipulate powerful pro-Israeli platforms like Meta and X. The author also highlights how easily Israeli media dismisses reports of military atrocities as “Iranian bots” or how soldiers justify their actions by claiming social media manipulation, absolving themselves of individual responsibility.
A truly disturbing revelation is Israel’s weaponization of artificial intelligence. It’s not just for drone navigation but for generating targets to bomb. Tools like Lavender and The Gospel facilitate rapid targeting, making it easier for soldiers to “uncritically” accept targets and pull the trigger, believing they are hitting genuinely deserving enemies. A “lefty” and “critical” Israeli professor even blamed AI for the destruction of Gaza, not the soldiers, providing a perfect alibi and allowing Israelis to deny responsibility. Finally, the article exposes propaganda tactics such as instilling fear of a global antisemitism wave to discourage emigration, even fabricating incidents like a “pogrom” in Amsterdam or a Holocaust survivor burned alive in Colorado. This fear-mongering is hypocritical, given the far greater number of Jews killed within Palestine. The phenomenon of “every accusation is an admission” is also discussed, where Israeli propaganda cleverly accuses Palestinians of the very crimes Israel is committing, thereby justifying further violence and denying its own culpability. The bombing of Al-Ahli Hospital, initially blamed on Islamic Jihad with fabricated evidence, is a stark example. The article also points out the deliberate manipulation of the term “hostages,” only applying it to Israeli captives (both soldiers and civilians, despite international law distinguishing them), while thousands of Palestinians held without trial for negotiation are never granted the same designation, and their deaths in Israeli prisons are never referred to as “murders.” This piece paints a picture of a society deeply entangled in denial, driven by fear and manufactured narratives, with profound moral implications.