Israeli Historian: Comparing Israel’s Leaders to Genghis Khan Insults the Mongols

An Israeli historian has argued that comparing Israel’s leaders to Genghis Khan is an insult to the Mongols, drawing a distinction between the strategic vision behind the Mongol ruler’s brutal wars and Israel’s approach to conflict.

The historian’s argument does not dispute the brutality of Genghis Khan’s campaigns. Rather, it holds that those wars were guided by a strategic vision, despite their violence.

Israel, by contrast, is fighting wars without end, the historian contends, lacking clear objectives or the means needed to achieve them.

The comparison also turns on the question of peace. The Mongols made peace with their enemies, the historian notes, contrasting that record with what the critique describes as Israel’s open-ended warfare.