The latest terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel has brought the trauma of the Holocaust back into the focus of global politics. Philosophy after Auschwitz provides criteria for moral and political responsibility in relation to Israel's right to exist and Palestinian self-determination. This framework is based on an analysis of historical experience which affirms human rights in the context of conflicts with Nazism, Stalinism and their successors. Additionally, the current key question concerning the Middle East conflict is how Israeli-Palestinian coexistence can be achieved within a national and international framework, considering the experiences of the Shoah and Nakba, not only in terms of commemoration, but also realpolitik.