Violence, Morality and Tragedy: The Israeli Soldier in the Hebrew Literature of the Intifada

This article examines the portrait of Israeli soldier in the Hebrew literature written in the last two decades in the shadow of the Intifada. The reality of Israeli- Palestinian relationships in general and the Occupation in particular raises many ethical questions regarding the use of military force, humanism, the nature of the State of Israel as a democracy, the duality of citizens who are soldiers, and the nature of education of younger generations. In this article I discuss four literary texts that reveal a range of perspectives on the situation, shedding light on different protagonists with different political and moral views, and confronting the question of violence and its roots.