Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany

Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany occur frequently in the political discourse of anti-Zionism.^[1][2] Given the legacy of the Holocaust, the legitimacy of and intent behind these accusations are a matter of debate, particularly with regard to their potential nature as a manifestation of antisemitism. Historically, figures like British historian Arnold J. Toynbee have drawn parallels or alleged a relationship between Zionism and Nazism; British professor David Feldman suggests that these comparisons are often rhetorical tools without specific antisemitic intent. On the other hand, the Anti-Defamation League sees these comparisons as attempts at Holocaust trivialization.^[3][4]

According to American political scientist Ian Lustick, comparing the two countries is "a natural if unintended consequence of the immersion of Israeli Jews in Holocaust imagery."^[5] Israeli-American Holocaust historian Omer Bartov has drawn an analogy between the indoctrinated dehumanization of the adversary in the Germany army under Nazism and the attitudes displayed by young Israeli troops in the Israeli war in Gaza (2024).^[6] A wide variety of political figures and governments, especially those on the left, have often invoked these comparisons, with the most prominent and influential example being that of Soviet anti-Zionism, which took root in response to Israel's integration with the First World in the aftermath of the 1967 Arab–Israeli War.^[7] In the 21st century, politicians who have done so at least once include Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,^[8] Brazilian president Lula da Silva,^[9] Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez,^[10] and British parliamentarian David Ward.^[11] Critics of the comparison, such as French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, argue that such comparisons not only lack historical and moral equivalence, but also risk inciting anti-Jewish sentiment. American historian Deborah Lipstadt calls these types of comparisons "soft-core" Holocaust denial.^[12]