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בני מוריס‎
Morris in 2007
Born	(1948-12-08) 8 December 1948 (age 76) Ein HaHoresh, Israel
Education	Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA) University of Cambridge (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions	Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Thesis	The British Weekly Press and Nazi Germany During the 1930s (1977)

Benny Morris (Hebrew: בני מוריס; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He taught history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Morris was known as one of the "New Historians." This group of Israeli historians looked at the Arab–Israeli conflict in new ways.

Morris's work on the conflict, especially the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, has received both praise and criticism. He sees himself as a Zionist, meaning he supports the idea of a Jewish state in Israel. He once said he started his research simply to "know what happened." One of his important books is The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1948 (1989). This book used newly released Israeli records. It showed that many Palestinian refugees in 1948 left their homes because of actions by Israeli forces. This was different from earlier beliefs that they left only due to orders from Arab leaders.

Around the year 2000, during the Second Intifada (a period of intense conflict), some scholars noticed a change in Morris's views. His perspective seemed to become more conservative. He began to see the 1948 events as justified actions.

Biography of Benny Morris
Benny Morris's Views
Published Works by Benny Morris
Awards and Recognition
List of Publications
See also

Biography of Benny Morris

Early Life and Education

Benny Morris was born on December 8, 1948. He was born in a kibbutz (a community settlement) called Ein HaHoresh in Israel. His parents were Jewish immigrants from the United Kingdom. His father, Ya'akov Morris, was a diplomat, historian, and poet. His mother, Sadie Morris, was a journalist. Morris grew up in a family with left-wing ideas. His family moved to Jerusalem when he was one year old. He also lived in New York for some time when his father worked for Israel's foreign service.

Military Service and Early Career

Morris served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as an infantry soldier from 1967 to 1969. He fought in the Six-Day War on the Golan Heights. He also served near the Suez Canal during the War of Attrition. In 1969, he was injured by an Egyptian shell. He continued to serve in the military reserve until 1990.

He earned a bachelor's degree in modern European history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Then, he received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1977. His main study was about relations between Britain and Germany in the 1930s. After finishing his studies, he could not find a job at a university. So, he became a reporter for The Jerusalem Post newspaper. He worked there for 12 years.

Interest in Palestinian History

Morris served as a reservist in the 1982 Lebanon War. He was part of the Siege of Beirut. He also reported on the war for The Jerusalem Post. During this time, he interviewed people in a Palestinian refugee camp. This made him very interested in the issue of Palestinian refugees.

In the 1980s, while working at the newspaper, Morris started looking through the Israel State Archives. He first studied the history of the Palmach (a Jewish defense force). Then, he focused on why Palestinian refugees left their homes in 1948. At that time, many believed Palestinians left due to fear or orders from Arab leaders. Morris found evidence that in some cases, they were forced to leave.

Academic Career and Challenges

After publishing The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in 1988, Morris faced criticism in Israel. He left The Jerusalem Post in 1991. He tried to find a job at a university but struggled. He continued his research and writing, but it was hard to support his family. Ezer Weizman, who was Israel's president at the time, helped him. Weizman found him a job at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1997.

From 2015 to 2018, Morris was a visiting professor at Georgetown University in the United States. He lives in Srigim, Israel, and has three children.

Benny Morris's Views

Changing Perspectives

In 2004, Morris gave an interview where he talked about his changing views. He said his opinions shifted around 2000, after peace talks failed and the Second Intifada began. He had seen the First Intifada as a fair uprising against military control. He even went to military prison for refusing to serve in the occupied areas. However, he saw the Second Intifada as a war by Palestinians against Israel. He said, "The bombing of the buses and restaurants really shook me. They made me understand the depth of the hatred for us."

Morris stated that Israel was right to remove some Palestinians in 1948 after Arab forces attacked. He believed that in certain situations, moving people is not a war crime. He said that if the goal was to create a Jewish state, there was no other choice. He felt sympathy for the Palestinian people and their difficult experience. But he believed the need for a Jewish state was more important.

He also said that Jews are a small group surrounded by many Arabs who want to remove them. He pointed out that Arab people have many states, but Jewish people had none. He believed it was important for Jewish people to have their own state.

Morris still calls himself left-wing because he supports a two-state solution. This means having both an Israeli and a Palestinian state. However, he believes his generation will not see peace. He thinks that many Palestinians want to carry out attacks. He calls those who do these attacks "barbarians."

He has also called Israeli Arabs "a time bomb." He believes they could become a threat from within. He said that in extreme situations, moving Israeli Arabs might become necessary.

Morris has also said that the conflict is part of a larger difference between Islam and the Western world. He believes their values are different.

Views on Israeli Government and Settlements

In 2019, Morris criticized the Israeli government for limiting access to historical documents about the 1948 Palestinian exodus. He called these restrictions "totalitarian." However, he also noted that Arab states keep their archives completely closed.

In 2023, Morris signed a letter with many academics. The letter stated that Israel operates "a regime of apartheid" in the West Bank. He later clarified that he does not see Israel as an "apartheid state" overall. He meant that Israel's control of the West Bank is like an "apartheid regime based on nationalism."

Morris is critical of Israeli settlements. He calls them "counterproductive" and believes they do not make Israel safer. He has called some settlers "right-wing fanatics" who are violent towards Palestinians. He thinks Israel should have left the West Bank right after the Six-Day War. He believed Jordan should have taken control of the area again.

Israel's Future

In a 2019 interview, Morris expressed a gloomy view of Israel's future. He argued that Palestinians would not compromise. He believes that a situation where Israel controls people who have no rights cannot last. He thinks that if Palestinians gain full rights, Israel will no longer be a Jewish state. He fears it could lead to violence, with Jews becoming a minority and many leaving the country. Morris believes Palestinians see the long game. He thinks they believe they will win because the Jewish state cannot last forever.

Published Works by Benny Morris

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1948

This 1988 book looks closely at how Palestinian refugees left their homes in 1948. Morris studied what happened to each abandoned Palestinian village. He looked at why people left and what happened to their homes. He also examined Israel's choice to not let the refugees return. This book made Morris known as a leading historian of the 1948 Palestine war.

1948 and After

1948 and After: Israel and the Palestinians (1990) is a collection of essays. These essays are about the Palestinian exodus of 1948 and later events. The book looks at the policies of Israeli political parties during the exodus. It also examines an Israeli army report on the causes of the exodus.

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited

Published in 2004, this book includes new information from archives. These records became available in the 25 years since Morris's first book on the topic. This work also looks at what happened in cities like Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Haifa.

1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War

In this book, Morris clears up misunderstandings about the 1948 Palestine war. He gives a detailed account of the war between different groups that led to the creation of modern Israel. Many have called this book the most complete study of the first Arab-Israeli war.

One State, Two States

Morris argues that a two-state solution (separate Israeli and Palestinian states) is not possible. He also believes a one-state solution (one state for both peoples) won't work. He thinks this is because Arabs are unwilling to accept a Jewish presence. He also points to cultural differences. He suggests a possible three-state solution, where Palestinians might join with Jordan.

The Thirty-Year ..., Turkey's Destruction of its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924

This book describes the destruction of Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. It covers the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian groups. The book states that about two million Christians were killed by their Muslim neighbors.

Awards and Recognition

2008: National Jewish Book Award in the History category for 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War

List of Publications

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN: 978-0-521-33028-2
Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services, with Ian Black, New York, Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. ISBN: 978-0-8021-1159-3
Israel's Border Wars 1949–1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0-19-829262-3
1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994. ISBN: 0-19-827929-9
Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab Conflict, 1881–1999. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2001 [Original in 1999] ISBN: 978-0-679-74475-7
Correcting a Mistake: Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956, Am Oved Publishers, 2000.
The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2003. ISBN: 978-1-86064-812-0
The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0-521-00967-6
Making Israel (ed), University of Michigan Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-472-11541-9
1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War, Yale University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-300-12696-9
One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict, Yale University Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-300-12281-7
The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924 (co-authored with Dror Ze'evi), Harvard University Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-0674916456
Sidney Reilly: Master Spy, Yale University Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-300-24826-5