Could Israel conquer the Arab states? Yes, but only with penetrating mobile strikes, not protracted “humane” warfare. The extent of victory made all the difference between the first and the second world wars. After the first war, the Entente did not enter the German capital, devastate the country, or change the government and its constitution. The enemy was humiliated but left to rearm. It did rearm and struck back with vengeance in twenty years. The French and the British occupied Egypt with easily, established a local administration, and ruled the country with little opposition. Egypt is unlike Germany in that its people lack a culture of moderation (other Arabs are still wilder), but we also have the example of a Japan that turned its educational system around after the war, taught its children international coexistence, and opened itself to the world. Israel needs to control the occupied Arab states for a decade or so. That will suffice to bring about lasting reforms in education and mentality. An occupation wouldn’t be so hard: Machiavelli taught that totalitarian states are easy to rule because their people are used to unfreedom.