Comparisons between
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
occur frequently in the political discourse of
anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...
.
Given the legacy of
the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, the nature of these comparisons, and particularly whether they constitute
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, is a matter of ongoing debate.
Comparisons between
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
have been made by academics,
politicians
and public figures, both Jewish and not,
since before the establishment of Israel.
Some scholars suggest these comparisons can be rhetorical tools without any specific antisemitic intent, or that they can be an informed and necessary response to Israeli policies or actions.
Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov ( ; born 1954) is an Israeli-American historian. He is the Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a historian of the Holocaust and is considered a leading au ...
,
As a former IDF soldier and historian of genocide, I was deeply disturbed by my recent visit to Israel
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
23 August 2024 Others state such comparisons lack historical and moral equivalence, risk inciting Jew-hatred, and may serve as a form of Holocaust inversion,
denial
Denial, in colloquial English usage, has at least three meanings:
* the assertion that any particular statement or allegation, whose truth is uncertain, is not true;
* the refusal of a request; and
* the assertion that a true statement is fal ...
or minimization.
During the 20th century, a wide variety of political figures and governments, especially those on
the left The Left may refer to:
*Left-wing politics in general or to the following political parties:
** The Left (Bulgaria) or ''Levitsata!''
** The Left (Czech Republic) or ''Levice''
** ''Die Linke'', also known as The Left
** The Left (Italy) or ''La Si ...
, have invoked comparisons between Israel or Zionism and Nazism.
In the 21st century, politicians who have made such comparisons include Turkish president
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
,
Brazilian president
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
,
Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, Colombian President
Gustavo Petro
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician who is the 34th and current president of Colombia since 2022. Upon inauguration, he became the Pink tide, first left-wing president in the History of Colombia, recen ...
, and others.
In the 20th century
In the 1940s
Comparisons between
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
predate the foundation of
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in 1948. In 1945,
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
officer and politician
Edward Spears
Major-General Sir Edward Louis Spears, 1st Baronet, (7 August 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a British Army officer and politician. He served as a liaison officer between British and French forces during both World Wars. From 1917 to 1920, he ...
compared political Zionism to the Nazi idea of ''
Lebensraum
(, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
.''
[Rory Miller]
''Divided Against Zion: Anti-Zionist Opposition to the Creation of a Jewish State in Palestine, 1945-1948,''
Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
2013 p.147. See also pp.16-18,23ff.Martin Kramer
Martin Seth Kramer (; born September 9, 1954, Washington, D.C.) is an American-Israeli academic with a focus on the Middle East at Tel Aviv University and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His focus is on the history and politics ...
''The War on Error: Israel, Islam and the Middle East,''
Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
2017
German-Jewish linguist and anti-fascist
Victor Klemperer
Victor Klemperer (9 October 188111 February 1960) was a German literary scholar and diarist. His journals, published posthumously in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the fascist Nazi Germany, Third ...
, who survived the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
and chose not to move to Israel but stay in Germany after 1945, wrote in his ''
LTI - Lingua Tertii Imperii
LTI can refer to:
* '' LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii'', a book by Victor Klemperer
* Language Technologies Institute, a division of Carnegie Mellon University
* Linear time-invariant system, an engineering theory that investigates the response of ...
'' (''The Language of the Third Reich'') that both
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
are essentially
neo-Romantic nationalist ideologies.
In 1948,
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century.
Her work ...
,
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
and a number of other Jewish public figures signed an open letter which compared
Tnuat Haherut, an early Jewish nationalist political party founded by
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel.
Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
, to Nazism.
[ ] Arendt's views on Zionism and Israel varied widely over time,
while Einstein supported the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, but not that of a Jewish state.
English historian
Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Coll ...
reconsidered his view that Zionism was like Nazism following his earlier critiques.
[Hedva Ben-Israel,]
Debates with Toynbee: Herzog, Talmon, Friedman
Israel Studies
''Israel Studies'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history, politics, society, and culture of the modern state of Israel. It was established in 1996 S. Ilan Troen as founding editor(Brandeis University). It is publishe ...
, Spring, 2006, Vol. 11, No. 1 pp. 79-90 pp.81-82.[Yair Rosenberg]
When an Israeli Ambassador Debated a British Historian on Israel’s Legitimacy—and Won. The Montreal face-off between Yaacov Herzog and Arnold Toynbee offers ways of discussing the Jewish state that still feel fresh
Tablet 31 January 2014 Critical responses by
Jacob Talmon and
Eliezer Berkovits
Eliezer Berkovits (8 September 1908, Oradea, Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary – 20 August 1992, Jerusalem) was a rabbi, theologian, and educator in the tradition of Orthodox Judaism.
Life
Berkovits received his rabbinical training first un ...
contributed to Toynbee's reflection that his condemnation of Zionism's guilt in this regard was disproportionate.
In the 1960s
In the context of the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, the administration of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
compared Israeli tactics to those of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
during the Second World War in official commentary.
After the victory of
Likud
Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
in the
1977 Israeli legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 May 1977 to elect the ninth Knesset. For the first time in Israeli political history, the right wing, led by Likud, won a plurality of seats, ending almost 30 years of rule by the left-wing Alignm ...
, Holocaust metaphors began to be used by the Israeli right-wing to describe their left-wing opponents.
In the 1980s
The Israeli philosopher
Yeshayahu Leibowitz
Yeshayahu Leibowitz (; 29 January 1903 – 18 August 1994) was an Israeli Orthodox Jewish public intellectual and polymath. He was a professor of biochemistry, organic chemistry, and neurophysiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a ...
introduced the term "Judeo-Nazis". He argued that continued
military occupation
Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling pow ...
of the
Palestinian territories
The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...
would lead to the moral degradation of
Israeli Defense Force
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
(IDF), with individuals committing atrocities for state security interests.
In 1988, Holocaust survivor
Yehuda Elkana warned that the tendency in Israel to see all potential threats as existential and all opponents as Nazis would lead to Nazi-like behavior by
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. During the
First Intifada
The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...
, Israeli-American historian
Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov ( ; born 1954) is an Israeli-American historian. He is the Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a historian of the Holocaust and is considered a leading au ...
was enraged by
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...
's call to "break the bones" of
Palestinians
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
and wrote him a letter arguing that, based on Bartov's research, the IDF could be similarly brutalized as the
German Army
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
was during World War II. One Israeli nationalist in a moshav told
Amos Oz
Amos Oz (; born Amos Klausner (); 4 May 1939 – 28 December 2018) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a pro ...
that he did not care if Israel was called a Judeo-Nazi state, it was "better
o be
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), ...
a living Judeo-Nazi than a dead saint." In 2018,
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
cited Leibowitz, arguing that he was right in his prediction that the occupation was producing Judeo-Nazis.
According to political scientist
Ian Lustick
Ian Steven Lustick (born 1949) is an American political scientist and specialist on the modern history and politics of the Middle East. He currently holds the Bess W. Heyman Chair in the department of Political Sciences at the University of Pennsy ...
, a professor at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, such comparisons are "a natural if unintended consequence of the immersion of Israeli Jews in Holocaust imagery", and the term "Holocaust inversion" for Nazi comparisons is used by those who see the Holocaust as a template for Jewish life.
In 1983,
University of Bridgeport
The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...
international law professor Richard Arens, the brother of Israeli Minister of Defence
Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens (; 27 December 1925 – 7 January 2019) was an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher, diplomat, and Likud politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense ...
, compared
Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...
to the Nazi
lebensraum
(, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
.
In the 21st century
Statements by Israelis
During the
Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip
In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unilaterally: Israeli au ...
in 2005, settlers donned yellow stars to compare themselves to Holocaust victims as part of their protests against the disengagement.
In a 2012 article entitled "The Blot of a Light Cloud: Israeli Soldiers, Army, and Society in the Intifada", Israeli academics (and former IDF soldiers) Nuphar Ishay-Krien and Yoel Elizur quoted an anonymous soldier who served during the
First Intifada
The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...
as saying, "I felt like, like, like a Nazi ... it looked exactly like we were actually the Nazis and they were the Jews."
In a testimony published by
Breaking the Silence Breaking the Silence may refer to:
Films
* ''Breaking the Silence'' (1992 film) a made-for-TV film directed by Robert Iscove
* ''Breaking the Silence'' (film), a 2000 Chinese film
* '' Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror'' ...
, an IDF soldier who served in
Operation Protective Edge
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...
recounted Israel's attacks on
Beit Hanoun
Beit Hanoun or Beit Hanun () is a Palestinian city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 52,237 in 2017. As a result of the ongoing Gaza war, Beit Hanou ...
by saying:
There's that famous photo that they always show on trips to Poland (organized trips in which Israeli youths visit Holocaust memorial sites) that shows Warsaw before the war and Warsaw after the Second World War. The photo shows the heart of Warsaw and it's this classy European city, and then they show it at the end of the war. They show the exact same neighborhood, only it has just one house left standing, and the rest is just ruins. That's what it looked like.
In 2016,
Yair Golan
Yair Golan (; born 14 May 1962) is an Israeli politician, the leader of the Democrats party, and reserve major general in the Israel Defense Forces.
He served as the Deputy Minister of Economy in the thirty-sixth Israeli government, and ser ...
, the Israeli general and deputy chief of staff of the IDF, sparked a controversy during a speech at
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah (), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (, ) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Je ...
. Golan alluded to manifestations of processes that occurred in Holocaust-era Europe. After criticism by Prime Minister
Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
, Golan said that he did not intend to compare Israel to Nazi Germany: "It is an absurd and baseless comparison and I had no intention whatsoever to draw any sort of parallel or to criticize the national leadership. The IDF is a moral army that respects the rules of engagement and protects human dignity." In 2019, he later again compared right wing Israeli politicians to Nazis and warned that Israel's democracy could be exploited similar to the
Nazi's rise to power in Germany, amid the rise of Israeli right-wing parties. This drew criticism from the right in Israel.
In an interview with
Israeli Army Radio
Israeli Army Radio ( lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz (), is a nationwide state funded Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic reports and educa ...
in November 2020,
Yair Netanyahu
Yair Netanyahu (; born 26 July 1991) is an Israeli podcaster and political activist. He is the second child of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biography
Yair Netanyahu was born in Jerusalem to Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara. He has a brother, Avner ...
, son of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
, he compared the
Kibbutz Movement
The Kibbutz Movement (, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made up of approximately 230 kibbutzim. I ...
to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the DPRK.
"Kibbutzim are something that doesn't exist outside of North Korea. We always know how ideas for utopian societies end. In the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, there was a desire to create exemplary societies and utopian societies. It never ends well, the desire to engineer human society."
In 2023, during the
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, the mayor of
Metula
Metula () is a town in the Northern District of Israel. It abuts the Israel-Lebanon border, and had a population of in .
History Bronze and Iron Age
Metula is located near the sites of the biblical cities of Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and Ijon ...
David Azoulai said in an interview: "The whole Gaza Strip needs to be empty. Flattened. Just like in
Auschwitz
Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
. Let it be a museum for all the world to see what Israel can do. Let no one reside in the Gaza Strip for all the world to see, because October 7 was in a way a second Holocaust." The remarks were condemned by a spokesperson for the
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum () is a museum on the site of the Nazi German Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland.
The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz I and the remains of the concentration and e ...
who said that they "may sound as a call for murder of the scale akin to Auschwitz".
On 18 February 2025,
Ofer Cassif
Ofer Cassif (; born 25 December 1964) is a far-left Israeli politician. He has represented Hadash in the Knesset since April 2019.
Biography
Cassif was born in Rishon LeZion on 25 December 1964. He attended Shalmon Elementary School and the ...
, a far-left politician of the
Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
and member of the
Hadash–Ta'al party, posted a tweet comparing Israel's plans to encourage voluntary migration of Palestinians from Gaza to the flight of the
German Jews
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...
to other countries during World War ll. His tweet was criticised by other Knesset members. For instance,
Otzma Yehudit
Otzma Yehudit () is a Far-right politics in Israel, far-right, ultranationalist, Kahanism, Kahanist, and Anti-Arab racism, anti-Arab List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. It is the ideological descendant of the outlawe ...
MK
Almog Cohen Almog Cohen may refer to:
* Almog Cohen (footballer)
* Almog Cohen (politician)
{{hndis, Cohen, Almog ...
filed a complaint to the Knesset Ethics Committee about “his vile and disgraceful comparison of the voluntary emigration program for Gaza residents to the voluntary emigration of Jews from Nazi Germany” and called Cassif a "terrorist supporter." In response, right-wing Knesset lawmakers called for Cassif's
impeachment
Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In Eur ...
.
Moshe Feiglin
Moshe Zalman Feiglin (; born 31 July 1962) is a right libertarian-leaning Israeli politician and activist, and the leader of libertarian Zionist party Zehut. As a member of Likud, he headed the Manhigut Yehudit (''Jewish Leadership'') faction w ...
compared both Israel and Palestinians to the Nazis, saying "As Hitler, may his name be erased, once said: 'I cannot live in this world if there is one Jew left in it,' we could not live in this land if even one such Islamo-Nazi remains in Gaza, and not before we return to Gaza and turn it into Hebrew Gaza."
Statements by Palestinians
In August 2022, the
President of the State of Palestine
The president of the State of Palestine () is the head of state of Palestine. Yasser Arafat became the first titular president of the State of Palestine in 1989, one year after the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. The title was origina ...
,
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...
, accused Israel of having committed "50 Holocausts" during a visit to
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Abbas had responded to a reporter's question about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the 1972
Munich massacre committed by the internationally active Palestinian militant group
Black September
Black September (), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fight ...
, who were at that time affiliated with Abbas'
Fatah Party. When asked if he intended to apologize for the attack, Abbas responded by listing allegations of atrocities committed by Israel.
Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...
, the
Chancellor of Germany
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...
, grimaced at the use of the word "Holocausts" but said nothing. Scholz condemned the remarks later. He asserted, "Especially for us Germans, any
relativization of the Holocaust is unbearable and unacceptable". The German publication ''
Bild
''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...
'' labeled the incident as antisemitic. In response, Abbas said that his answer was not intended to deny the singularity of the Holocaust, which he stated that he condemned in the strongest terms, but that he had intended to discuss the "crimes and massacres committed against the Palestinian people since the
Nakba
The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...
at the hands of the Israeli forces" in his view.
Statements by international politicians
In April 2016, Turkish-born Swedish politician
Mehmet Kaplan
Mehmet Güner Kaplan (born 18 July 1971) is a Swedish politician of Turkish origin who served as Ministry of Enterprise (Sweden), Minister for Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2016. He is a member of the Green Party (Sweden), Swedish Gr ...
who served as the
Minister of Housing was forced to resign after a video surfaced from 2009, where he compared Israel's treatment to the Palestinians to the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany, stated “Israelis today treat Palestinians in a very similar way to how Jews were treated in Germany in the 1930s."
In July 2018, Turkish president
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
, while addressing
Grand National Assembly MPs in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
, said that the "spirit of
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
" lives on in Israel, commenting specifically that he believes "no difference
xistsbetween Hitler's obsession with
a pure race and the understanding that these ancient lands are just for the Jews." He also called Israel "the world's most
Zionist
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
,
fascist
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
,
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
state." The statements were condemned by Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
, who described
Erdoğan's rule as "a dark dictatorship" and stated that Erdoğan "is
massacring Syrians and
Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
and has jailed tens of thousands of his own citizens."
The spat between the two leaders took place following the Israeli government's adoption of
Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People.
In May 2023, Tunisian President
Kais Saed said, "While
Tunisians
Tunisians () are the citizens and nationals of Tunisia in North Africa, who speak Tunisian Arabic and share a common Tunisian culture and identity. In addition to the approximately 12 million residents in Tunisia, a Tunisian diaspora has been ...
protected Jews during the Holocaust, today elderly women and children are being bombed in
Gaza
Gaza may refer to:
Places Palestine
* Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea
** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip
** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip
Mandatory Palestine
* Gaza Sub ...
." Rabbi
Pinchas Goldschmidt
Pinchas Goldschmidt (born 21 July 1963) is a Swiss-born rabbi also known as a religious scholar and Jewish community leader. He was the Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Russia from 1993 until 2022, serving at the Moscow Choral Synagogue. He also founde ...
, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said such remarks incited hate against
Tunisian Jews
The history of the Jews in Tunisia dates back nearly two thousand years to the Ancient Carthage, Punic era. The Jewish community of Tunisia grew following successive waves of immigration and proselytism before its development was hampered by the ...
.
On 18 February 2024, the President of Brazil
Lula da Silva stirred up controversy due to his statement comparing the actions of Israel in the
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
to the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
.
In the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, erstwhile
Member of Parliament for
Bradford East, the
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
politician
David Ward, created controversy after signing the ceremonial Book of Remembrance in the Houses of Parliament on
Holocaust Memorial Day
A Holocaust memorial day or Holocaust remembrance day is an annual observance to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide of six million Jews and of millions of other Holocaust victims by Nazi Germany and its allies. Many countries ...
, with him writing: "I am saddened that the
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during
the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, could within a few years of liberation from the
death camps
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...
be inflicting atrocities on
Palestinians
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
in the new state of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza
Gaza may refer to:
Places Palestine
* Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea
** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip
** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip
Mandatory Palestine
* Gaza Sub ...
." He later said that "a huge operation out there" had distorted what he meant.
As a result of the scrutiny over the January 2013 controversy, the Liberal Democrats' leadership threatened Ward with formal disciplinary action over his arguments.
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
of the British rock band
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
has repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany. In a 2013 interview with ''Counter Punch'', he accused "
the Jewish lobby" of being very powerful in the United States and said, "There were many people that pretended that the oppression of the Jews was not going on. From 1933 until 1946. So this is not a new scenario. Except that this time it's the Palestinian People being murdered."
American
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
and writer
Shmuley Boteach
Jacob Shmuel Boteach (born November 19, 1966), known as Shmuley Boteach, is an American Jewish rabbi, author, and media host.
He is the author of 31 books, including the best-seller ''Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy'' (1999) and ...
regarded this comparison as
antisemitic
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, writing in ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', "Mr. Waters, the Nazis were a genocidal regime that murdered 6 million Jews. That you would have the audacity to compare Jews to monsters who murdered them shows you have no decency, you have no heart, you have no soul." In a 2017 hour-long video live chat on
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, Waters again compared Israel to Nazi Germany.
In the United States
In a
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
special, comedian
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...
made a joke about
William Ellison, a former slave in South Carolina who then
went on to own slaves. The punchline of the joke was "And shockingly, they're making a movie about him. Ironically, it's called 'Space Jews.'" The UK-based
Campaign Against Antisemitism
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community. It conducts litigation, runs awareness-raising campaigns, organises rallies and petitions, provi ...
(CAA) said the joke implied that "Jews subject others to the atrocities that they suffered in the Holocaust." The joke was denounced by CAA, with a spokesperson saying: "Antisemitism and minimizing the Holocaust are no joke. Whilst there is always a place for light-hearted humor, Dave Chapelle’s so-called comedy is barely coherent and plays on the ignorant prejudices of his audience. It is bad enough to do so in the confines of a comedy club, but to be streamed into living rooms around the world courtesy of Netflix is an undeserved privilege for someone willing to mock the trauma of Jewish history and the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide."
Actor
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter. He is known for playing Vizzini in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Mr. Hall in '' Clueless'' (1995), Dr. John Sturgis in '' Young Sheldo ...
said in a 2025 interview with
Katie Halper
Katherine Rose Halper (born July 11, 1980/1981) is an American comedian, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and political commentator. She is the host of the podcast ''The Katie Halper Show'' and co-host of the podcast ''Useful Idiots'' with Aaron Ma ...
that Israel is "doing evil that is just as great as what the Nazis did." Shawn added: "In some ways it's worse, because they kind of boast about it. Hitler had the decency to try to keep it secret. For some reason, Hitler didn't want people to know he was doing these things to the Jews. The Israelis are almost proud of it, and it's demonically evil. And anybody who doesn't recognize that it's evil, I can't, probably, communicate with that person. That might be temporary insanity."
Jake Romm in a piece for ''Parapraxis'' on the role of the Shoah in Zionism wrote, "The Shoah was present for the early Zionist perpetrators of the
Nakba
The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...
both as the crime to be avenged and the model for the barbarity—and efficacy—required to carry that vengeance out."
Responses
Academics worldwide have debated whether comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany are antisemitic or not. Lesley Klaff and
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, politi ...
argue that these comparisons lack historical and moral equivalence, and risk inciting anti-Jewish sentiment.
Author
Yossi Klein Halevi
Yossi Klein Halevi (; born 1953) is an American-born Israeli author and journalist.
Biography
Yossi Klein Halevi was born and raised in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York in a Jewish family. His parents, Zoltan and Breindy Klein, were Hungarian J ...
deemed the comparison a form of an archaic dehumanizing trope: "the
Jew as embodiment of evil" and the "
satanic Jew", now turned into "the satanic Jewish state".
Comparisons between Israel and Nazism have been described as a form of
Holocaust trivialization
Trivialization of the Holocaust is the act of making comparisons that diminish the scale and severity of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. The Wiesel Commission defined trivialization as the abusive use of comparisons with the aim of mi ...
called "
Holocaust inversion".
Deborah Lipstadt
Deborah Esther Lipstadt (born March 18, 1947) is an American historian and diplomat, best known as author of the books ''Denying the Holocaust'' (1993), ''History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier'' (2005), ''The Eichmann Trial'' ...
, the
U.S. Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism, describes this type of Holocaust inversion as "soft-core" Holocaust denial, as contrasted with the "hard-core" denial practiced by
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...
. She says that it "dilutes what the Holocaust was" by using a false comparison.
Kenneth L. Marcus says that Holocaust inversion aims to "shock, silence, threaten, insulate, and legitimize", which has "a chilling effect on Jewish supporters of Israel". He says that it implies the subject deserves some form of punishment, which then justifies any antisemitism that may occur, while disguising it as political criticism of Israel. This also serves to insulate those who use such comparisons from accusations of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
.
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, politi ...
says this erodes societal safeguards by providing "an entirely new way of justifying" antisemitism that is subtler than yelling "
Money Jews" or "
They Killed Christ".
David Hirsh described "The Livingstone Formulation" as the defense used by those accused of antisemitism that their accusers are trying to prevent Israel from being criticized.
The
Working Definition of Antisemitism
The IHRA definition of antisemitism is the "non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism" that was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. It is also known as the IHRA working definition of antisem ...
– adopted by the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), until January 2013 known as the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research or ITF, is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1998 wh ...
, the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
, and other organizations – offers several examples to help determine when criticism of Israel may be antisemitic, including "drawing comparison of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis". Critics of the definition say that it could define legitimate criticisms of Israel as antisemitic and that it has been used to censor pro-Palestinian activism, in particular. Alternative definitions such as the
Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism
The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) is a document meant to outline the bounds of antisemitic speech and conduct, particularly with regard to Zionism, Israel and Palestine. Its creation was motivated by a desire to confront antisemi ...
have been proposed instead on this basis.
Eyal Levin suggests that Holocaust inversion is becoming part of the iconography of a
new antisemitism
New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, typically manifesting itself as anti-Zionism. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working d ...
which has spread globally – particularly in the Arab and Muslim world and in Western Europe and America – often appearing in demonstrations and media portrayals.
Historian
Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis, (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British-American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near ...
suggests that the belief that the Nazis were no worse than Israel also provides "welcome relief to many who had long borne a burden of guilt for the role which they, their families, their nations, or their churches had played in Hitler's crimes against the Jews, whether by participation or complicity, acquiescence or indifference".
In Austria, while overt antisemitism has been limited following the Holocaust, the
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...
has used comparisons between Nazi Germany and Israel to delegitimize its political opponents. In Israel, Lustick reports that many Israelis are "already repelled by actions against Palestinians they cannot help but associate with Nazi persecution of Jews". Israeli-American historian
Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov ( ; born 1954) is an Israeli-American historian. He is the Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a historian of the Holocaust and is considered a leading au ...
has drawn an analogy between the German army's dehumanization of its enemies under Nazism and the attitudes displayed by young Israeli troops in the 2024
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
.
Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov ( ; born 1954) is an Israeli-American historian. He is the Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a historian of the Holocaust and is considered a leading au ...
,
As a former IDF soldier and historian of genocide, I was deeply disturbed by my recent visit to Israel
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
23 August 2024
British scholar
David Feldman suggests that comparisons in relation to the
2014 Gaza War
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...
have not been motivated by a broader anti-Jewish subjectivity but by targeted criticism of Israeli policy in military actions.
See also
*
Relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world
Relations between Nazi Germany (1933–1945) and the Arab world ranged from indifference, fear, animosity, confrontationI Gershoni, J Jankowsi "Confronting Fascism in Egypt" (Stanford University Press, 2009) https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east- ...
*
Nazi analogies
Nazi analogies or Nazi comparisons are any comparisons or parallels which are related to Nazism or Nazi Germany, which often reference Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, the ''SS'', or the Holocaust. Despite criticism, such comparisons have been empl ...
*
Criticism of the Israeli government
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...
*
Double genocide
*
Fascist (insult)
''Fascist'' has been used as a pejorative or insult against a wide range of people, political movements, governments, and institutions since the emergence of fascism in Europe in the 1920s. Political commentators on both the left and the right a ...
*
Genocide recognition politics
Genocide recognition politics are efforts to have a certain event (re)interpreted as a "genocide" or officially designated as such. Such efforts may occur regardless of whether the event meets the definition of genocide laid out in the 1948 Geno ...
*
Hajo Meyer
Hajo Meyer (; ; born Hans-Joachim Gustav Meyer, ; 12 August 1924 – 23 August 2014) was a German-born Dutch physicist, Holocaust survivor and political activist. While primarily known for his public commentaries in terms of the European Jewish ...
*
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on 10 November 1975, "''Determines'' that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination" with 72 votes in favour, 35 votes against, and 32 abstentions. It was revoked by Resoluti ...
(revoked by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86)
*
Zionist antisemitism
Zionist antisemitism or antisemitic Zionism refers to a phenomenon in which antisemites express support for Zionism and the State of Israel. In some cases, this support may be promoted for explicitly antisemitic reasons. Historically, this typ ...
*
Carlos Latuff
Carlos Latuff (born 30 November 1968) is a Brazilian political cartoonist. His work deals with themes such as anti-Western sentiment, anti-capitalism, and opposition to U.S. military intervention in foreign countries. He is best known for his i ...
* ''
The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism''
*
Putler
Putler (), sometimes extended to Vladolf Putler (), is a derogatory neologism and portmanteau formed by merging the names of Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler. Often used in the slogan "Putler Kaput!" (; , literally, "Putler broken!") by people opp ...
, a comparison of Russia's actions in the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
to Nazi Germany's during the Second World War
*
3D test of antisemitism
The three Ds of antisemitism or the 3D test of antisemitism is a set of criteria formulated in 2003 by Israeli human rights advocate and politician Natan Sharansky in order to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism. The ...
*
Weaponization of antisemitism
The exploitation of accusations of antisemitism, especially to counter anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel, is sometimes called weaponization of antisemitism. Claims of weaponizing antisemitism have arisen in various contexts, including the Ar ...
*
Zionist as a pejorative
"Zionist", " Zionazi", and "Zio" are commonly used as politically pejorative terms by Anti-Zionists against supporters of Israel.
History of pejorative use
The use of the compounded "Zio" as a pejorative is first recorded by the 1990 edition of ...
Footnotes
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
"Israel's 'nation-state law' parallels the Nazi Nuremberg Laws"by
Susan Abulhawa
Susan Abulhawa (; born June 3, 1970) is a Palestinian-American scientist, writer and activist. Her first novel, '' Mornings in Jenin'', was translated into 32 languages and sold more than a million copies. The sales and reach of her debut novel ...
at
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
"Herzog calls on Israel's politicians to leave Nazi references out of campaigns"by Greer Fay Cashman at ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
''
"The Rights and Wrongs of Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany"by
Daniel Blatman
Daniel Blatman () is an Israeli historian, specializing in history of the Holocaust. Blatman is the head of the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Career history
Blatman was a visiting scholar at the Centre ...
at ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
''
{{Portalbar, Israel, Germany, History, Politics
Israel and Nazi Germany
Anti-Arabism in Israel
Anti-Palestinian sentiment in Israel
Anti-Israeli sentiment
Anti-Zionism
Germany–Israel relations
Historiography of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Holocaust historiography
Linguistic controversies
Media bias controversies involving Israel
Media coverage of the Arab–Israeli conflict
Metaphors referring to war and violence
Nazi analogies
Political psychology
Politics of Israel
Racism in Israel
Racism in Palestine
Victimology