Breaking the Silence (organization)

Breaking the Silence (BtS; Hebrew: שוברים שתיקה, romanized: Shovrim Shtika; Arabic: كسر الصمت, romanized: Kasr aṣ-Ṣamt) is an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 2004 by veterans of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It is intended to give serving and discharged Israeli personnel and reservists a means to confidentially recount their experiences in the Israeli-occupied territories. Collections of such accounts have been published in order to educate the Israeli public about conditions in these areas.

The organization's stated mission is to "break the silence" surrounding these military activities. Founded to collect testimony from 2000 to 2004 from troops who served in the occupied territories, the NGO has collected and published accounts related to Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and other areas since then.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior political figures have repeatedly criticised the organization, and attempted to dissuade other countries from funding it. At the same time, some senior figures in the Israeli defense and security establishment have defended the NGO. For instance, General Amiram Levin said in 2015 that "Breaking the Silence strengthens the IDF and its morality."