Matan Katzman, a retired Givati ​​officer retired and active in the My Truth pro-IDF organization, spoke Wednesday before the EU’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, which is expected to arrive in Israel as part of its ongoing fact-finding mission on Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

My Truth was established about six weeks ago by five reservists, in response to the extreme leftist group Breaking the Silence. 

Avihay Shoreshan, one the founders of the organization, told Arutz Sheva that the five were spurred by Breaking the Silence’s falsehoods in their highly-published report. 

“When we saw that what they are doing in this report, claiming that the IDF acted in an aggressive and inhumane way, and basically said it all apart from the actual use of the term ‘war crimes’, we went on an operation of our own to gather testimonies from soldiers who fought in [Protective Edge] and other operations who capture the true spirit of the IDF,” he said. 

Shoreshan noted that pro-IDF testimony in the media – unlike the stories perpetuated by Breaking the Silence – was “virtually non-existent.” 

Katzman’s testimony is expected to influence the commission and various organizations involved with the EU Subcommittee, he said, and My Truth was invited to counteract Breaking the Silence’s and other leftist groups’ testimony by the Foreign Ministry. 

“He told the committee that the reality on the ground is not black and white,” Shoreshan said. “He spoke about personal incidents he had as an officer, and he qualified to the Europeans the descriptions given by Breaking the Silence and noted they have an agenda.”

Katzman added that “there is no political body which stands behind us, we represent the entire political spectrum in Israel” in making the speech, according to Shoreshan. 

“Breaking the Silence constantly boasts that they stimulate debate in Israel and abroad, but in practice most of their work is to go speak to parliaments – and that they don’t speak about,” he added.