Daniel Blatman () is an Israeli historian, specializing in history of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Blatman is the head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

Career history

Blatman was a visiting scholar at the Centre for European Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, 2012–13.

Books

*''The Death Marches. The Final Phase of Nazi Genocide'', Cambridge Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 2011

Criticism of the Israeli Government

In association with the 2023 Israeli judicial reform the Likud-led far-right coalition were compared to Germany in the 1930s by some journalists and historians in Israel including by Daniel Blatman, an Israeli historian, specializing in history of

, and head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the

. When interviewed by Ayelett Suhani for

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

, Blatman said "Israel's government has neo-Nazi ministers. It really does recall Germany in 1933". His remarks drew some international attention from long-standing critics of Israel. However, he was referring specifically to the authoritarian aspects of 1930s Germany, he did not draw direct connections to the ghettos or the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. He is listed in the signatures on the open letter "Statement of Genocide Scholars on Israel-Palestine" dated 21 May 2021. In 2016 he criticised

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

for referring to removal of

Israeli settlers Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

from the West Bank as "ethnic cleansing". This triggered a discourse with

Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...

, in which Blatman asserted that ethnic cleansing had been done by Israel in 1948. In May 2025, he declared about Israel's military operations in Gaza: "I have been engaged in researching the Holocaust for about 40 years. I never imagined in my worst nightmares that the Jewish state would bomb starving children to death".

Prizes

*1991: The Pridan Prize for Studies in East European Jewish History, Hebrew University. *1993: Jakob Buchman Prize for the Memory of the Holocaust *2011: Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research

References

External links

Prof. Daniel Blatman
at the

Daniel Blatman
at ''

'' Living people 1953 births Historians of the Holocaust Israeli historians {{Israel-historian-stub