Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany

Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany occur frequently in some veins of anti-Zionism in relation to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The legitimacy of these comparisons and their potential antisemitic nature is a matter of debate. Historically, figures like Arnold J. Toynbee have drawn parallels between Zionism and Nazism, a stance he maintained despite criticism. Scholar David Feldman suggests these comparisons are often rhetorical tools without specific antisemitic intent. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sees them as diminishing the Holocaust's significance.

According to political scientist Ian S. Lustick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, such comparisons are "a natural if unintended consequence of the immersion of Israeli Jews in Holocaust imagery". A wide variety of political figures and governments have made the comparison historically, an example being the administration of the Soviet Union in the context of the Six-Day War within 1960s era Cold War divisions. Politicians in the 21st century who have done so include the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and British parliamentarian David Ward. Critics of the comparison, such as Lesley Klaff and Bernard-Henri Lévy, argue that such comparisons not only lack historical and moral equivalence but also risk inciting anti-Jewish sentiment. Deborah Lipstadt calls such comparisons "soft-core" Holocaust denial.