A few days ago, in rejecting the many calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza War, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war.” Israel will fight on, he said, until “victory.” On Thursday, from his comfortable and safe perch at the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum, former President Barack Obama called for a ceasefire, an end to Israeli “occupation,” and “self-determination for the Palestinian people.” Netanyahu wants to defeat an enemy who seeks Israel’s destruction. Obama wants to reward Hamas’ aggression. Netanyahu is Churchill. Obama is Halifax.

By May–June 1940, Nazi Germany had annexed Czechoslovakia, brought Austria into the Third Reich, and defeated Poland, and it would soon defeat France. Germany had signed a non-aggression pact with Stalin’s Soviet Union. Great Britain, although it received some material help from the United States, was alone. And some of its more sober and experienced statesmen, including Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, favored a diplomatic settlement or negotiated peace with the Nazis. Winston Churchill, who had been prime minister for a little more than a month, said no. (READ MORE from Francis P. Sempa: For the Secular Left, Mike Johnson Endangers the ‘Naked Public Square’)

Halifax, who many thought should have been chosen prime minister instead of Churchill after the fall of Neville Chamberlain’s government, urged Churchill and the other members of the War Cabinet to seek a negotiated peace with Hitler. As Roy Jenkins noted in his biography of Churchill, Halifax hoped that Italy could act as a mediator “to secure a peace which, while giving Hitler considerable gains, would nonetheless procure adequate autonomy for Britain.” In late May–early June 1940, the War Cabinet met for what Jenkins characterizes as “nine tense meetings” at which the subject of a negotiated peace was debated. Churchill repeatedly refused even to put out diplomatic peace feelers that would undoubtedly become public and have the effect of undermining British morale to continue the fight.

In a dramatic meeting of the broader Cabinet, Churchill memorably gave his final answer:

I have thought carefully in these last days whether it was part of my duty to consider entering into negotiations with That Man. But it was idle to think that, if we tried to make peace now, we should get better terms than if we fought it out…. We should become a slave state, though a British Government which would be Hitler’s puppet would be set up … And I am convinced that every man of you would rise up and tear me down from my place if I were for one moment to contemplate parley or surrender. If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground.

Churchill understood that a negotiated peace that would leave Britain free and independent was, with Hitler as a “peace” partner, a mirage. Netanyahu likewise understands that for Hamas (and its Iranian backers) a ceasefire would amount to little more than a breathing spell in Hamas’ effort to kill as many Israelis as possible and, ultimately, to destroy Israel. (READ MORE: The Lie Behind the ‘Hearts and Minds’ Plea)

Halifax’s motive was at least pure, if wrongheaded. His goal was to enable Britain to survive as an independent and free country. What is Obama’s motive? Why does he — and many others who have called for Israeli restraint — criticize Netanyahu and explain Hamas’ aggression as a response to Israel’s “occupation”? Obama and the other ceasefire proponents must know that Israel has not “occupied” Gaza since 2005. Gaza has been governed for the last 18 years by the Palestinian Authority and then Hamas. Obama and the other “Halifaxes” must also know that a senior member of Hamas recently stated that if given the opportunity, Hamas will repeat the Oct. 7 attacks until Israel ceases to exist. Hamas, like Hitler in Mein Kampf, has not hidden its ultimate goals, which for both was/is the eradication of the Jewish people.

The great historian John Lukacs wrote that it was during those dark days in May–June 1940 that Winston Churchill saved not only Britain but also Western civilization. Benjamin Netanyahu understands that what is at stake in the current Gaza war is the survival of the Jewish state and people. For Israel, it is indeed a time for war.