Nazism and Fascist Zionism Compared

Dr. Jamin A. Hübner (initial draft by ChatGPT 4.0; heavily modified)

Ideological Aspect	Nazi Ideology	Fascist Zionism (Militant, Right-Wing)
European Historical Nationalist Origins	Nazi ideology was inspired by late 19th and early 20th-century European nationalist movements, particularly those that emphasized ethnic purity and the supremacy of the nation-state. The idea of the German Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community) came from earlier Romantic nationalist ideas.	Zionism emerged in the late 19th century as a response to European antisemitism and nationalism, particularly within the context of Jewish emancipation and rising pogroms in Eastern Europe. It shares some roots with European nationalist movements but focuses on Jewish self-determination and the reclamation of the ancestral homeland rather than racial purity.
Ethno-nationalism	Nazi ideology, rooted in 19th and early 20th-century European racial and nationalist thought, promoted the idea of a pure Aryan race. Starting in 1933, after the Nazi Party came to power, this ideology was legally codified through policies like the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, which stripped Jews of citizenship and reinforced ethnic hierarchies. The Nazis sought a homogeneous German “Volksgemeinschaft” (people’s community) that excluded Jews, Roma, Slavs, and other perceived racial outsiders. Influenced by European Romantic nationalism, this ideology justified persecution and ultimately genocide.	Zionism, emerging in late 19th-century Europe in response to rising antisemitism and nationalist movements, was originally a secular movement for Jewish self-determination. Right-wing Zionism, particularly Revisionist Zionism led by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s and 1930s, emphasized Jewish control over the entire Land of Israel (including historical Palestine), prioritizing Jewish ethno-national identity. This ethno-nationalism, also shaped by European ideas of national self-determination, solidified after 1948, when the State of Israel was established. This ideology justified persecution of Palestinians and ultimately genocide.
Racial Supremacy	Nazi ideology centered on the absolute superiority of the Aryan race, especially Germans. Influenced by 19th-century scientific racism and Social Darwinism, the Nazis viewed Jews, Roma, and Slavs as racially inferior. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws banned marriages between Jews and Aryans and dehumanized Jews as “Untermenschen” (subhumans), laying the groundwork for the Holocaust. Other groups, including the disabled, were subjected to forced sterilization and euthanasia programs to “purify” the Aryan race.	Militant Zionist movements emphasized Jewish primacy in the context of Israeli-Palestinian relations, promoting policies that treat Palestinians as a demographic threat. The ICJ declared Israel an apartheid state that practices ethnic segregation on July 19, 2024, and has been declared an apartheid state by all major human rights organizations in the world. There are separate legal systems, laws (including intermarriage), punishments, privileges, and even roads for Palestinians and Israelis.
Authoritarianism	Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state under Adolf Hitler, who consolidated power after becoming Chancellor in 1933. The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties, and the 1933 Enabling Act granted Hitler dictatorial powers, allowing him to bypass the parliament entirely. All opposition parties, particularly the Communists and Social Democrats, were banned, while trade unions were dissolved and replaced by Nazi-controlled organizations. The Nazi Party controlled all aspects of society through a vast bureaucratic apparatus, including the SS (Schutzstaffel), Gestapo (secret police), and SD (intelligence service), which maintained surveillance, suppressed dissent, and executed political enemies. State control extended into education, the media, and culture through ministries such as Joseph Goebbels’ Propaganda Ministry, which monopolized communication, promoting Nazi ideology through radio broadcasts, films, posters, and rallies like the annual Nuremberg rallies. The judicial system was co-opted to enforce Nazi laws, including the racial Nuremberg Laws of 1935. The regime used terror to enforce loyalty, operating concentration camps where political dissidents, Jews, and others were imprisoned or executed. Hitler’s cult of personality was central to the Nazi power structure, with absolute obedience to the Führer considered a core value of the state.	Some far-right Zionist factions, particularly Revisionist Zionism, advocate centralized control and prioritize national security and territorial expansion at the expense of civil liberties. Israel, widely recognized as an apartheid state under international law, employs authoritarian measures over Palestinian populations, including military rule in the West Bank and blockades in Gaza, and indefinite detention and (since 2023) the use of torture camps such as Sde Teiman. The Mossad (Israel’s intelligence agency) exerts significant influence both domestically and abroad in conjunction with the CIA; American imperialism plays a crucial role in maintaining Israeli power through financial, military, and diplomatic support. These factors enable Israel to implement expansionist policies and suppress dissent, consolidating control over occupied territories and ensuring the dominance of its militarized government. Mention of the “Nakba,” where Israel displaced over 700,000 Palestinians and massacred dozens of villages in 1948, is prohibited from public discourse. Advocates of Palestinian liberation are routinely imprisoned within the Israeli state. PM Netanyahu has sought to undermine the independent judiciary in Israel to ensure authoritarian top-down power.
Territorial Expansionism	Nazi expansionism was driven by the concept of Lebensraum (living space), which justified the annexation and colonization of territories in Eastern Europe to secure resources and land for the Aryan race. After Hitler came to power in 1933, Germany began its expansion by annexing Austria in the 1938 Anschluss, followed by the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia through the Munich Agreement. In 1939, Germany fully occupied Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland, triggering World War II. The Nazis then expanded into much of Western Europe, including France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, and sought to conquer the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa (1941), aiming to subjugate the Slavic population and colonize Eastern Europe for German settlers. Nazi forces also occupied Norway, Denmark, Yugoslavia, and Greece, with puppet regimes installed in many of these regions. The Generalplan Ost envisioned the genocide or displacement of millions of Slavs and the resettlement of Germans in these territories. By 1942, Nazi Germany controlled a vast portion of Europe, but their expansion was halted by the failure of Operation Barbarossa and subsequent Allied victories.	Fascist Zionism was driven by the concept of Eretz Israel (“land of Israel” in the Bible), which justified the annexation and colonization of territories in Palestine before and after Israel was established from the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Zionists characterized their vision as “A land without a people for a people without a land,” despite the fact that there was 400,000 people in Palestine in the 1890s (5% Jewish, 11% Christian, and the rest Muslim). Following wars in 1948, 1967, and 1973, Israel expanded control over large areas of Palestine, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the Golan Heights. Since October 2023, this expansion by conquest has been described by human rights bodies as genocidal (UN, University Network of Human Rights, Genocide Convention of the ICJ, Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, over 50 holocaust scholars, etc.), as it involves the intentional displacement and elimination of Palestinian populations. Some Israeli officials promote “Greater Israel,” which requires Israel to conquer large swaths of the Middle East to restore biblical Israel.
Treatment of Minorities	The Nazi regime’s treatment of minorities was defined by racial purity laws and genocidal policies, with Jews being the primary target. Starting in 1933, Jews were stripped of civil rights, expelled from public life, and subjected to economic boycotts. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws institutionalized their persecution by banning Jewish-German marriages and classifying Jews as second-class citizens. From 1939, Nazi policy shifted toward mass extermination, culminating in the Holocaust, where six million Jews were systematically murdered in concentration and extermination camps. Other minorities also faced brutal repression: Roma (Gypsies) were subject to similar genocidal policies, with hundreds of thousands killed. Disabled people were targeted in the T4 Euthanasia Program, where over 70,000 individuals were murdered. Slavic peoples, particularly Poles and Russians, were enslaved or killed as part of Lebensraum expansion, while Black people, though fewer in number, faced sterilization and internment. Homosexuals and political dissidents (e.g., Communists, Social Democrats) were also imprisoned, often in concentration camps. Religious minorities like Jehovah’s Witnesses faced brutal persecution for refusing to pledge allegiance to the Nazi state. These groups were collectively dehumanized as “unworthy of life” in the Nazi racial hierarchy, and their annihilation was a key part of the regime’s broader goals of ethnic cleansing and racial supremacy.	The Zionist regime’s treatment of minorities was defined by various ideologies, including Jewish supremacy, settler colonialism, and religious law, which ultimately limited Palestinian rights and facilitated their expulsion from the land. Gay marriage is illegal, Palestinian children are tried in military tribunals by default, and African/Sudanese populations face various forms of discrimination. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank have been kidnapped and held, sometimes for years (in or outside solitary confinement), in the Israeli prison system without any charge or trial. Members of the Knesset debated the merits of “the right to rape” Palestinian prisoners in 2024, leading to a riot amongst the military that resulted in vindication for perpetrators. The Netanyahu government openly promoted the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza in 2023—public intent that was used by South Africa at the ICJ Genocide Convention. Israel effectively turned the refugee camp of Gaza into a concentration camp in 2007, and then into an extermination camp in 2023, after which it created and maintained a network of torture camps for prisoners (such as Sde Teiman). Christian churches were regularly bombed during the 2023-2024 Gaza genocide, and Christians and Armenian populations were expelled from East Jerusalem.
Use of Violence	The Nazi regime employed systemic violence as a means of control and oppression. This included widespread use of terror by the SS (Schutzstaffel) and the Gestapo, who enforced Nazi laws through intimidation and brutal tactics. Public executions, forced labor, and concentration camps were tools for suppressing dissent and instilling fear. The regime utilized violence not only against political opponents but also against perceived enemies, including Jews, Roma, and disabled individuals. The Night of the Long Knives in 1934 exemplified the use of violence to eliminate internal threats within the Nazi Party. During World War II, the Nazis engaged in aggressive military campaigns that involved mass violence against civilian populations, particularly in occupied territories. This violence was justified as necessary for the survival of the Aryan race and the advancement of Nazi goals, creating a culture where brutality was normalized and accepted as part of the state’s ideology.	Militant Zionist groups like Irgun and Lehi in the pre-state period used violence and terrorism against both British and Arab targets to achieve Jewish statehood. This included bombing the King David Hotel, bombing of synagogues outside Palestine to encourage Jewish migration, assassinations, and massacres of villages (such as Deir Yasin). Modern Zionism also supports military action—including bombing Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon, and threatening war with Iran—to maintain control over disputed territories (often called periodic “mowing the lawn.”) The ICC requested an arrest warrant for PM Netanyahu for using “starvation as a weapon of war” in Gaza in 2023-2024. Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza was one of the largest in history which greatly surpassed WWII (including nuclear weapons used in Japan); killed more UN workers than in the United Nations entire history, and also killed more journalists than WWII and Vietnam combined. The IDF regularly shoots and kills children in the West Bank (an average of 3 per week for over a quarter century), and killed an average of 500 Palestinian children per week for over a year in 2023. Western powers normalized Israeli violence as “self defense” and “defeating terrorism.”
Economic Structure	Nazi Germany promoted a mixed economy, with heavy state intervention in industries deemed essential for the war effort. Large corporations cooperated with the regime (including American companies such as GE, IBM, and others), and Aryanization policies transferred Jewish wealth to German hands.	Radical Zionist movements are less economically doctrinaire but often prioritize military and defense funding. While early Zionism had socialist elements (e.g., kibbutzim), modern right-wing Zionists generally advocate capitalist policies alongside a strong military-industrial complex. Israel is a leading weapons manufacturer in the world and depends heavily on American subsidies to survive.
Militarism	Militarism was a foundational aspect of Nazi ideology, with the state glorifying military values and warfare as essential to national strength and unity. The Nazis believed that military conquest was necessary to achieve their goals of territorial expansion and racial purity. Upon Hitler’s rise to power, Germany began rearmament in blatant violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which had imposed severe restrictions on the military. The Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) was expanded, and strategies like Blitzkrieg (lightning war) were developed for swift victories. The regime infused militaristic culture into society through education and youth organizations like the Hitler Youth, which instilled values of discipline and loyalty. Military parades reinforced the notion that service was a sacred duty. The regime justified aggressive wars, leading to the invasions of Poland in 1939, France in 1940, and the Soviet Union in 1941. Additionally, the SS (Schutzstaffel) and Gestapo operated as instruments of state terror, employing militarized tactics against dissenters and enemies. The regime’s militarism extended to conquered territories, where populations faced oppression or extermination to facilitate German colonization. As the war progressed, the idea of total war emerged, mobilizing all resources to support the effort and promoting a willingness to sacrifice millions for the Nazi cause.	Right-wing Zionist factions emphasize military strength as critical for defending the state and achieving national goals. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are central to this vision. The Hannibal Directive requires the IDF to kill fellow soldiers if they are being taken as hostages, and the Dahiya Doctrine is a de facto terrorist policy that requires the mass destruction of civilian infrastructure and buildings to pressure the population to change their political aspirations and views. Israel regularly bombs its neighboring countries, and serves as one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world. It tests weapons on Arabs—a practice initiated by the British in the 1920s, who explicitly believed that Arabs were inferior to both Europeans and Jews. The United States sends billions in military aid to Israel every year to carry out its deterrent policies. Mossad is also notorious for organizing assassinations of political leaders around the region and supporting militarism around the world. Israel has military supported multiple genocides, including in Armenia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, and also provided the military support to bolster South African apartheid until its collapse. Israel maintains one of the most militaristic society in the world, where teenage reserve troops can be found with AR15s almost everywhere in public streets; female IDF soldiers are also sexualized in social media to bolster public support amongst western societies.
Religious Influence	Nazi ideology was deeply intertwined with a distorted interpretation of Christianity, which was manipulated to promote a vision of Aryan supremacy. The regime sought to replace traditional Christian values with a quasi-religious reverence for the state and its leader, Adolf Hitler. This syncretic approach included promoting pagan symbols and rituals, emphasizing a mythologized version of Germanic history and culture. The regime aimed to weaken the influence of established churches, viewing them as potential threats to its authority, leading to the establishment of a pro-Nazi German Christian movement. Some Nazi leaders believed in a spiritual battle against Judaism, which they saw as an existential threat to the Aryan race, fueling their anti-Semitic policies. Additionally, the regime’s emphasis on Blut und Boden (“Blood and Soil”) sought to create a national identity rooted in land and race, further distancing itself from conventional religious doctrines.	Right-wing Zionism is heavily influenced by religious beliefs that advocate for the divine right of Jews to the land of Israel, intertwining nationalism with religious identity. This “holy land” ideology draws on biblical narratives that assert a historical and spiritual connection to the land, justifying contemporary political claims. The influence of religious leaders and institutions often shapes the discourse surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting a vision of the land as sacred and non-negotiable. Some factions within this movement interpret military actions as fulfilling a divine mandate (a second “conquest of Canaan”), reinforcing the belief that security and expansion are essential to their religious mission. The intertwining of faith and politics creates a potent justification for aggressive policies against perceived enemies and promotes a culture of militarism and resilience rooted in religious conviction. Israel receives its greatest support bloc from Christian Zionists in Britain and the U.S.