Hi fellow historians!!
Being born and raised in Israel, I always learned that Israel is a place full of fairytales and perfection, and it’s the land of God’s people and we were destined to have this piece of land for ~4000 years etc.
Recently I’ve heard that the way Israel gained its independence wasn’t really “kosher” and the way the government is treating Arabs isn’t either. I would usually ignore these because I was very biased and pro-Israel, but now I’m looking for the objective truth. It finally came to me when I saw that the only two countries that are against trading with Cuba are the USA and Israel.
Thanks in advance for helping me!
I mean, some of the biggest issues in Israeli history aren't going to be an issue of "truth" but are unresolved issues of historiography and interpretation. That being said, have you read any of the works of the "New Historians" of Israeli history, like Benny Morris, Tom Segev, and Avi Shlaim?
The reputations of some of the other "New Historians" (like Ilan Pappé) isn't nearly as good, but everything of Morris' that I've read is excellent, as is Segev's One Palestine, Complete.
I haven't read it, but I've also heard excellent things about Rashid Khalidi's The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood.
It is impossible to find any single unbiased thing on the conflict. Besides the recommendations you've already received from CptBuck, you can also look at the work of Charles D. Smith (whose Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict is a good counterpart to Benny Morris). You can also watch the documentary The Fifty Years War by PBS, which is not bad for understanding overarching history and seeing politicians and people who have lived the conflict for decades speak about their experiences and history. Please note that anything within the past 20 years is not something we can talk about in this sub.