The historian Dan Schwartz explains the largely forgotten—and monumental—effects of World War I on Jewish history, including the mass participation of Jewish soldiers in the fighting and the conflict’s impact on Zionism:

In the debates about granting Jews [legal] equality, which dated back to before the French Revolution, the question was, “Can we really trust Jews to be good soldiers? Can we really trust them to be patriots?” The argument was made that, “Look, Jews will be more loyal to their fellow Jews than they will be to people in this particular nation.” World War I certainly is not the first time that Jews fought on opposite sides. . . . In the American Civil War, Jews fought for both sides, as they did early in the 19th century in the various Napoleonic wars. But on nothing approaching this scale.

World War I was [also] a turning point . . . because two of the most significant events of the Jewish 20th century—the Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel—are almost unimaginable without World War I.

By the second decade of the 20th century, modern anti-Semitism, which had emerged in the late 19th century, seemed, for the most part, to have petered out as a political movement. But World War I gave it new life. The German experience in the war—its defeat, its [perceived] humiliation by the Allies, and the scapegoating of Jews for the economic, social, and political turmoil that followed—set in motion the events leading to the Holocaust.

Similarly, Zionism was a late-19th-century movement that as of 1914 seemed to have run into a brick wall. The Ottoman empire was implacably opposed to Zionism, basically preventing Zionists from immigrating, [or] at least from purchasing land. Even though the war itself was initially damaging to Zionism and to the [early Jewish settlers of Palestine], the alliance [with Britain] and the Balfour Declaration that came from it enabled the movement to develop. This is something that could not have been anticipated [prior to the outbreak of war] in 1914.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.