A Call for ‘Biblical’ Genocide
Screengrab as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on Oct. 28, 2023.
Editor’s Note: BPFNA board member Brian Kaylor published this piece, A Call for ‘Biblical’ Genocide, on his website Word&Way. Here we excerpt the introduction. We encourage you to read the full piece, linked below.
On Saturday (Oct. 28), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed his nation still reeling from the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. After weeks of bombing the Gaza Strip in response, Netanyahu announced Saturday that they were moving into a “second phase” of the war that includes ground troops entering Gaza. Pledging that Israel would “completely eliminate this evil from the world,” he then argued it’s a war of biblical proportions.
“You must ‘remember what Amalek has done to you,’ says our holy Bible. And we do remember and we are fighting,” Netanyahu declared.
The prime minister quoted from Deuteronomy 25, part of Moses’s long speech of rules and advice for the ancient Hebrew people. In it, Moses referred back to a surprise attack on the people by the Amalekites as he led the people from Egypt to Canaan.
[…]
That’s the command Netanyahu used to explain and justify what Israel is going to do in Gaza. It’s a call for what the United Nations and international law today would consider genocide. A call to kill everyone. Not just enemy combatants but even infants. It’s a call not for a “just war” but for a total war in the name of God.
So after ignoring the verses two decades ago in my preaching class, this issue of A Public Witness will consider the admonition against Amalek and unpack what it means when politicians invoke such a passage in a war today.
