Netanyahu strongly criticised BtS in a speech to the Knesset in early 2015, and late in the year, the Education Minister proposed a bill blocking its speakers from state schools.

"[5] Among the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) units serving during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, there was one in particular, battalion 50 of the Nahal, that in that period consisted of many youths from moshavim and kibbutzim,[6][7] who had often known each other before their service.

Following their service, three reservists collected photographs and made a videotape of testimonies by other IDF soldiers who had also served in Hebron, to show what occurred in encounters between Palestinian civilians and the military.

In June 2004 in Tel Aviv, Yehuda Shaul, and two other former soldiers, Jonathan Boimfeld and Micha Kurtz, organized an exhibit called Breaking the Silence, which featured photos and videotapes that "documented their compulsory service in Hebron.

[8][11][12] That same year, Shaul, Avichai Sharon, and Noam Chayut (the latter two also members of battalion 50 who had served in Hebron), founded Breaking the Silence (BtS), a non-governmental organization (NGO).

[19] In 2007 he became its foreign relations director, as the organization began to seek outside support for funding for its programs, in addition to providing direct aid to refusenik members and their families.

The rest came from Oxfam, the New Israel Fund; Dutch, German, Danish and Irish church organizations; and NDC, the Palestinian NGO that promotes Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns.

Some 54 incidents were described of "firing of phosphorus gas in the direction of populated areas, the killing of innocent victims [using] small arms, destruction of hundreds of houses and mosques for no military purpose.

[33] Journalist Amos Harel wrote "while there is no definite way of vouching for the credibility of their reports, it is safe to say that [the testifiers] did fight in Gaza and that they provided enough authentic detail to prove that they are not imposters.

[28] Ynetnews published excerpts from the report, summarizing them as showing the military's "systematic humiliation of Palestinians, reckless and cruel violence, theft, killing of innocent people and cover-up.

The IDF is a controlled state organization, which learns and draws lessons, and cooperates with any serious body with the shared goal of exhausting any inquiry when such an examination is inquired.

"[49] Elliott Abrams, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote that the report contained many accounts of experiences during the Second Intifada.

He wrote that the Israel Defense Forces were trying to stop numerous terrorist acts and suicide bombings that were "maiming and killing thousands" of Israeli civilians and criticized the book for failing to describe those dangers.

It believes that BtS emphasizes negative aspects of Israeli military operations and threatens its state security,[31] "part of an advocacy campaign intended to harm Israel's image overseas.

In early 2009, some veterans took part in a discussion at the Rabin Pre-Military Academy, at Oranim Academic College, revealing Israeli abuses during the Gaza War.

[61] On March 31, 2009, the Military Advocate General said that these soldiers' accounts that the IDF had been ordered to shoot civilians appeared to be based on hearsay rather than their own experiences.

It said that the NGO had "a clear anti-government agenda" and complained to diplomatic personnel of the UK, Netherlands, and Spain to try to dissuade them from continuing their financial support of BtS.

[66][67] The Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands said that Breaking the Silence was a "legal and legitimate organization",[67] but said that its funding by the Dutch government was unreasonable "in light of the political sensitivities."

"[58] The bill is believed to be "primarily directed at the Breaking the Silence organization, but gives the education minister the power to ban any group deemed hostile to the IDF from entering schools.

For instance, Retired Major General Amiram Levin published an ad in the Times of Israel, saying that "Breaking the Silence guards IDF soldiers in the impossible place in which politicians have abandoned them.

"[71] In 2016, the Attorney General filed a petition to force BtS to reveal the identity of a soldier whose testimony raised suspicion of possible war crimes related to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014.

In June 2017, police investigated an allegation of war crimes made by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked against BtS spokesperson Dean Issacharoff.

"[74] In September 2012, in the wake of a Breaking the Silence report that alleged IDF abuse of Palestinian children, Danny Lamm, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, expressed his concern that the Israel Defense Forces were unable to investigate claims because they were presented as "anonymous ... devoid of critical detail and untested by any kind of cross-questioning."

[78] Dana Golan, executive director of Breaking the Silence, said that the testimonies "meet the highest standards of investigative journalism" and unusual cases are "corroborated by two independent sources."

[58] In July 2016, the investigative television program HaMakor reported that, of a sample of ten of BtS published testimonies, two were factual, two were false, two were exaggerated, and four were unverifiable.

[79] Raviv Drucker, a supporter of the NGO, said in the HaMakor program that the group's members "act a little bit like a sensational magazine" that does not check the facts thoroughly or writes an exaggerated headline, while claiming to hold higher standards.

[78] In addition to earlier statements, in 2016 a number of retired senior Israeli security and military figures expressed support or admiration for Breaking the Silence.

General Amiram Levin took out a newspaper advertisement, saying that he believed that BtS helped strengthen the IDF and its morality by providing transparency for military actions.

"[82] Retired Israel Police Major General Alik Ron and Shin Bet security services chief Ami Ayalon jointly published an advertisement in Haaretz in support of BtS.

[82] Yuval Diskin, former head of the Shin Bet, said in 2016 that BtS helps Israel "maintain the required vigilance about the most sensitive human issues", as befitting a democratic society.