In an interview with Ross Douthat, Bret Stephens once again argues that the Israelis were justified in killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza because the Allies did the same thing in the process of defeating Nazi Germany. Is the analogy sound?
No, for three reasons. First, the Allies didn’t have 21st century precision weapons. Second, Hitler and the Nazi regime mobilized the entire population of Germany to fight the war; in Gaza, Hamas made no such effort and simply hid among the civilians. Third, Nazi Germany had enough firepower to take and hold most of Europe. The military capacity of Hamas, even on its best days, was never any match for Israel’s.