Netanyahu: Absurd to say his comparison of Hamas to biblical Amalekites a call to genocide

The Prime Minister’s Office hits out at South Africa’s allegation that comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referencing the Amalekites, the biblical enemy of the ancient Israelites, were incitement to genocide.

The references to the Amalekites were cited as part of South Africa’s charge of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice, heard last week in The Hague.

“This false and preposterous charge reflects a deep historical ignorance,” the PMO says in a statement, dismissing the claim as absurd.

It adds that when Netanyahu used the biblical quotation “Remember what Amalek did to you” he was using it as a way of describing the savage Hamas attack of October 7, and not as a call for genocide.

The PMO points out that the same phrase appears in a permanent exhibit at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, as well at a memorial in the Hague for Dutch Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

“Obviously neither reference is an incitement to genocide of the German people,” posts the PMO.

“So too Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reference to Amalek was not an incitement to genocide of Palestinians, but a description of the utterly evil actions perpetrated by the genocidal terrorists of Hamas on October 7th and the need to confront them.”

There are several accounts of, and references to, the Amalekites in the Bible, including an attack by the Amalekites on the Israelites in Exodus; a commandment to “Remember what Amalek did to you” in Deuteronomy; another commandment in Deuteronomy to “blot out the memory of Amalek,” interpreted to mean destroy the Amalekites; and the account of King Saul’s attack on and destruction of the Amalekites in Samuel I.

Among the absurdities levelled against Israel at the Hague was the charge that after the October 7th massacre PM Netanyahu incited genocide by quoting the biblical phrase "remember what Amalek did to you."

This false and preposterous charge reflects a deep historical ignorance.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 16, 2024

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The statement comes as the judges in the ICJ deliberate on whether to grant the provisional measures against Israel requested by South Africa based on its allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

It is crucial in genocide proceedings in the court to prove that there was intent to deliberately destroy a people, or part of it, in order to rule that genocide took place, which is why the South Africans cited Netanyahu’s references to the Amalekites, as well as other inflammatory comments against the Palestinians by senior Israeli government ministers.

South Africa’s application to the ICJ also included charges that some Israelis were guilty of incitement to genocide and that Israel had failed to punish such people as it is required to under the Genocide Convention, to which it is signatory.