On Sunday's The Weekend: Primetime, MSNBC hosts Ayman Mohyeldin and Antonia Hylton gave a forum to Holocaust scholar Omer Bartov to accuse Israel of committing "genocide" against the Palestinians and the U.S. of being "complicit." 

Mohyeldin set up the segment by blaming Israel for Palestinans being killed while trying to collect relief supplies, and then related that his guest recently wrote an op-ed in The New York Times accusing Israel of genocide:

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: For months we have seen the same horror, same headlines -- Palestinians killed while trying to get food. This as starvation spreads, especially among the children in the Gaza Strip. With us -- on with us now is leading Israeli American historian Omer Bartov. He is a professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University. In his latest piece this week in The New York Times, titled, "I'm a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It," he writes, "My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people."

The MSNBC host began by noting some objections, but granting him the "walk us through it" talk as he let him go unchallenged for the rest of the segment:

MOHYELDIN: I think a lot of people who would watch and read your op-ed would struggle with the word "genocide" to describe what has happened there. It's obviously something that both the Israeli government and American politicians have rejected what Israel is doing. Walk us through how you came to that conclusion that, after all that you have studied and all that you have researched over your career, that that applies to what Israel is now doing in the Gaza Strip.

Bartov recalled that he had previously accused Israel of committing war crimes soon after Israel's early military responses to the October 7 terrorist attack:

BARTOV: Initially, you may know, in November of 2023, I published an op-ed in The New York Times in which I said that I thought that the IDF was already involved in war crimes using disproportionate force and potentially crimes against humanity, but that I did not see enough evidence for genocide despite many statements that were made by Israeli political and military leaders -- people with executive authority -- in the immediate aftermath of the massacre by Hamas on October 7. 

And I kept watching what was going on, and by May of 2024, it appeared to me that it was no longer possible to deny that what was happening was very different from the way the IDF and the Israeli government were describing it.

Moshe Phillips at Jewish News Syndicate argues Bartov is not just evolving into genocide talk based on what he's observing. Back in August 2023—more than two months before Israeli troops even entered Gaza—he was one of the lead signatories on a letter accusing Israel of conspiring to “ethnically cleanse all territories under Israeli rule of their Palestinian population.”

After giving an analysis arguing that Israel is trying to destroy Palestinian culture, co-host Antonia Hylton followed up by asking him to respond to a church recently being damaged by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip. Mohyeldin soon concluded the segment by cuing up his liberal guest to accuse the United States of being "complicit" in "genocide" against the Palestinians:

MOHYELDIN: Obviously, all of this is only made possible by American taxpayers, American weapons, American diplomatic cover at the United Nations, political support in Congress. Does this make America complicit in genocide if you believe Israel is committing genocide?

BARTOV: Yes, of course.

PS: NPR's Morning Edition also featured Bartov's claims of Israeli genocide with only faint pushback on July 17.

Transcript follows:

MSNBC's The Weekend Primetime

July 20, 2025

7:27 p.m. Eastern

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Today marks the deadliest day yet for Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza. Israeli forces shot and killed more than 85 Palestinian across the embattled enclave. The deadliest incident occurred in northern Gaza where at least 79 people were killed by Israel waiting for U.N. aid trucks entering the northern border with Israel. What you're seeing on your screen is the aftermath of the shooting. This 40-year-old mother lost three of her sons -- all three shot and killed by Israeli troops while trying to bring food home. This isn't an isolated incident. For months we have seen the same horror, same headlines -- Palestinians killed while trying to get food.

This as starvation spreads, especially among the children in the Gaza Strip. With us -- on with us now is leading Israeli American historian Omer Bartov. He is a professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University. In his latest piece this week in The New York Times, titled, "I'm a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It," he writes, "My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people."

Professor Bartov, it's great to have you on the show. Um, I think a lot of people who would watch and read your op-ed would struggle with the word "genocide" to describe what has happened there. It's obviously something that both the Israeli government and American politicians have rejected what Israel is doing. Walk us through how you came to that conclusion that, after all that you have studied and all that you have researched over your career, that that applies to what Israel is now doing in the Gaza Strip.

OMER BARTOV, BROWN UNIVERSITY: So, first of all, thanks for having me -- glad to join you. Look, I mean, it took me quite a while to reach that conclusion because the commission of genocide is a complex one, and one needs a great deal of facts to establish that. Initially, you may know, in November of 2023, I published an op-ed in The New York Times in which I said that I thought that the IDF was already involved in war crimes using disproportionate force and potentially crimes against humanity but that I did not see enough evidence for genocide despite many statements that were made by Israeli political and military leaders -- people with executive authority -- in the immediate aftermath of the massacre by Hamas on October 7. And I kept watching what was going on, and by May of 2024, it appeared to me that it was no longer possible to deny that what was happening was very different from the way the IDF and the Israeli government were describing it.

They claimed that the war goal -- there were two war goals. One was to destroy Hamas, and the other was to release the hostages. In May 2024, the IDF decided to move into Rafah -- the southernmost city in Gaza -- which had by then about a million people in it -- mostly displaced Palestinians who had been displaced by the IDF that told them, "You have to leave for your own safety." And in order to move into that city, the IDF moved a million people to the beach area ... which had no infrastructure whatsoever, and they moved into Rafah and proceeded to demolish it. So by August of '24 there was nothing there. And at that point, I started looking at the pattern of operations and to see whether the pattern of operations, in fact, was consistent with the statements made by political and military leaders of Israel on October 7 and on the days thereafter.

And it appeared that what the IDF was engaged in was not trying to accomplish these goals, but rather it was trying to make Gaza completely uninhabitable for its population. It was destroying everything. It was destroying not just places where it thought Hamas was but destroy schools, universities, mosques, museums, hospitals -- an operation that is ongoing. And that the goal was, A, to make life impossible for Palestinians there, B, to move them as much as possible to the South -- which means to the Egyptian -- right on the Egyptian border -- and, finally, to make it impossible also for them to reconstitute their identity as a group even after the war would be over -- that is, to destroy them -- not to kill everyone but to destroy the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to remain as a group. And that conforms to the definition of genocide which is "actions taken with intent --

MOHYELDIN: Right.

BARTOV: -- of destroying a group -- an ethnic or national or religious group -- in whole or in part as such.

ANTONIA HYLTON: I'm wondering if I could get your reaction to a story that I think has gone under the radar for some this past week, the bombing of Gaza's only Catholic church, the same one that the Pope used to call every night. What did that specific incident represent or symbolize to you?

(BARTOV)

MOHYELDIN: I wanted to if I can ask you really quickly, Professor -- and we're almost out of time -- but, in your piece in the op-ed, you talk about the implications that this has for countries like the United States. Obviously, all of this is only made possible by American taxpayers, American weapons, American diplomatic cover at the United Nations, political support in Congress. Does this make America complicit in genocide if you believe Israel is committing genocide?

BARTOV: Yes, of course. I mean, look, since, you know, when I wrote that piece in November 2023, I was hoping that somebody in the American administration would pay attention and actually stop Israel from deteriorating from the situation becoming genocide. And it was possible to do that because Israel cannot do what it's doing without constant American supply of munitions, arms, and, of course, political cover -- an iron dome -- diplomatic iron dome in the U.N. I mean, know the Security Council cannot act because of the American veto. And so, yes, of course the U.S. as well as Germany, Britain and France are complicit in the sense that they are protecting Israel politically, providing it with economic and military assistance and not speaking out -- something that can actually be stopped. This is not inevitable in any way.

HYLTON: Professor, Bartov, thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise with us.