The genocide in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are an escalation of longstanding Israeli policy

 B’Tselem’s new chairwoman

B'Tselem <mail@btselem.org

Dear friends of B'Tselem, I assume the role of chair of B'Tselem's board at the most difficult period for human rights in this region. As human rights advocates, we always direct our attention to the darkest corners of life in this world. But in the times we are living through, the darkness is not at the margins. It is center stage, in Israel/Palestine and around the world.  We know all too well that the genocide in the Gaza Strip and the spread of violence in the West Bank are an extreme escalation of longstanding Israeli policy that has brought us to a historic low point of violent erasure. This violence takes different forms throughout every area under Israel's apartheid regime, including inside the Green Line and in Israeli prisons. The consequences of Israeli policy also reach Palestinian refugees and exiles, in Lebanon and around the world, who continue to face displacement, persecution, and silencing. This is a critical moment, and I take on this role with a deep awareness of the vital importance of B'Tselem's work today, more than ever before. Over the past eleven years, I have had the privilege of serving on B'Tselem's board and of being part of an organization that is courageous, professional, credible, and uncompromising, and above all, human. An organization whose greatest strength is its people: our field researchers and volunteer camera project participants, who carry out their work despite constant danger; our team members who document, analyze, and disseminate information; our executive director, Yuli Novak; and my fellow board members. We are all deeply grateful to Orly Noy, our outgoing chair, for her commitment, moral clarity, and unwavering spirit of hope and solidarity. As she embarks on the next stage of her journey in the political arena, we thank her for her years of leadership and wish her every success. Calling Things What They Are During my years on B'Tselem's board, my own path has taken me from legal advocacy in Israel and the West Bank to academia, and from living in Israel to the West Coast of the United States. That transition has broadened my perspective. I remain deeply connected to my partners in this struggle, to my former clients, and to the human rights community in Israel, while also becoming part of  a growing diaspora of Israelis.  From where I stand today, I see how the local and global arenas are deeply interconnected, constantly shaping and reinforcing one another, for better and for worse. Our struggle is not confined by geography. We build alliances across borders and stand in solidarity with organizations, activists, and human rights defenders who are being persecuted and silenced in far too many places around the world by authoritarian and repressive regimes. Today, the very idea of universal rights, along with the movements and institutions associated with human rights, are no longer taken for granted. These frameworks have never been free of power relations, economic exploitation, or internal contradictions, and at times they have failed movements for liberation or even stood in their way. Yet they have also strengthened grassroots struggles and helped shape ideas, visions, and movements committed to liberation. I see human rights not as "natural" rights, but as legitimate political claims for freedom and justice, and as a set of tools for pursuing those goals and resisting oppression. Rights are inseparable from an ongoing struggle against those who hold political and economic power: Palestinians continue to demand freedom and self-determination; South Africa, followed by other states, has called the genocide by its name and demanded that the world act to stop it. We, too, stand on the shoulders of those who came before us as we call genocide and apartheid by their names and demand the world to halt them. I see B'Tselem's work as one voice joining many others in the effort to build a better world. Through our shared determination, those voices will not be silenced. Support B’Tselem  Our Responsibility As a critical Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem has a unique position. We connect Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian human rights defenders working inside the Green Line, in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip, with audiences around the world. Our researchers possess an in-depth understanding of both the actions of the occupation forces and their impact on Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as the policies of the Israeli government. This gives us both a unique ability and a profound responsibility to connect firsthand information from the field with rigorous political analysis, to expose the broader systems that enable this violence. We do our utmost to work in solidarity, with humility and self-reflection, alongside Palestinian activists and human rights organizations facing intensifying persecution, and together with movements around the world working to end the occupation and apartheid. At the same time, our unique position enables us to speak directly to the Israeli public inside the Green Line and to Jewish communities around the world. Often, the messenger matters as much as the message itself. Precisely because of the abyss we now face, and the urgency of this moment, we remain committed to engaging Israeli society, the Palestinian public, the international community, and diverse audiences across the globe. The genocide in the Gaza Strip did not end with the announcement of the "ceasefire" in October 2025, and Israel's violence in the West Bank continues to intensify. Facing unimaginable grief and loss, as well as the security, colonial, racist, and messianic rhetoric used to justify them and the willingness of broad segments of Israeli society to support and legitimize the genocide while silencing those who oppose it, we have not given up, and we will not give up.  Precisely because we have reached such a dark place, an opportunity has emerged to reach people who were previously unwilling to listen. Moments of rupture can create the possibilities for change. Even if it is still too early to speak of the long path toward accountability, repair, and perhaps even reconciliation, we remain committed to a vision of a future in which everyone living in this land can live in freedom, equality, safety, and dignity. I take on this role with a profound sense of responsibility, but also with hope. Thank you for your trust and for your enduring partnership. To meet the many challenges ahead and continue our work, B'Tselem depends on your support. Yours, Smadar Ben-Natan Stand with us: Donate and strengthen B’Tselem