Are Israelis Desensitized to Suffering in Gaza?
Dispatches on culture, politics, and religion from Matthew Schultz, a rabbinical student and writer living in Tel Aviv.
In a recent piece in Haaretz, writer Etan Nechin describes Israelis as a people “desensitized to Gaza's suffering.”
This charge—that Israelis don’t care about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, or that we don’t even look at it honestly—is one I’ve heard countless times since the start of the war, mainly from left-wing Israelis, mostly in the pages of Haaretz.
It couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, Israelis are uniquely aware of and concerned about the humanitarian crisis caused by the war—especially compared to Americans in the same situation.