This lecture introduces Omer Bartov’s new book, Israel: What Went Wrong? Bartov looks at how Zionism, a movement originally meant to protect and free European Jews, grew into a state ideology of ethno-nationalism. The lecture traces the history behind today’s conflict in Israel and the occupied territories, including the origins of Zionism, the displacement of Palestinians, the politics of the Holocaust, controversies about the term “genocide,” and the uncertain future.

Professor Bartov is an Israeli-American scholar and the Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University.