Breaking the Silence (non-governmental organization)
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| Founded | March 2004 |
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| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Website | www |
Breaking The Silence (BtS) (Hebrew: שוברים שתיקה Shovrim Shtika) is an Israeli Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) established by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) veterans who collect and provide testimonies about their military service in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem since the Second Intifada. Located in west Jerusalem, this NGO gives serving and discharged Israeli personnel and reservists a platform to confidentially describe their experiences in the Israeli-occupied territories. J.J. Goldberg described the NGO in The Jewish Daily Forward as a "left-wing soldiers' protest organization." Lawrence Swain has said that the group has a more varied demographic and ideological composition than encompassed by that description.
The organization's stated mission is to 'break the silence' of IDF soldiers who return to civilian life in Israel and "discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the [occupied] territories, and the silence which they encounter at home." Since 2004, Breaking the Silence has run a testimonies collection project called "Soldiers Speak Out." They have collected over 1,000 testimonies from "those who have, during their service in the IDF, the Border Guard, and the Security Forces, played a role in the Occupied Territories." By publishing soldiers' accounts, BtS hopes to "force Israeli society to address the reality which it created" and face the truth about "abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property" under this process, which soldiers have encountered.
Senior Israeli political figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have spoken out against the organization. At the same time, senior figures in the Israeli defense and security establishment have defended the organization. General Amiram Levin has stated that "Breaking the Silence strengthens the IDF and its morality."
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