David Grossman: Isolating Israel is not the answer

‘To isolate Israel or to punish Israel will be the most
irresponsible and unacceptable step to boycott Israel, for
example. I think it's a huge mistake, because what we need is a
dialogue.’


Tim Franks speaks to Israeli author David Grossman about the
Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as concerns grow over the increasingly
fragile ceasefire. Grossman is one of Israel’s most prominent
writers, and since publishing his first novel over forty years
ago, his works have been translated into 36 languages. He’s won
numerous literary awards over the years, including the Man Booker
International Prize in 2017. Many of his works deal with the
issues associated with Israel and Palestine.


The 71-year-old is also well-known as a peace activist, and has
been a vocal, long-standing critic of the Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu - expressing concern over the direction the
country is being led in.


In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in
August, Grossman described Israel’s actions in Gaza as
‘genocide’, lamenting that he had been forced to reach that
conclusion by the ongoing military campaign that began following
the events of October 7.


Thank you to the Newshour team for their help in making this
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Presenter: Tim Franks Producers: Ben Cooper and Jack Hunter
Editor: Justine Lang


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(Image: David Grossman. Credit Franco Origlia/Getty Images)