Netanyahu rejects claims Israel's war in Gaza has 'genocidal intent'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released an official statement on Tuesday, rejecting the implicit claims of genocidal intent in a statement made by Netanyahu earlier amid Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.

During one of the first press conferences held after October 7, Netanyahu recited a quote in his speech referring to "Amalek" - the eternal enemy of the Jewish people while comparing them to Hamas.

Since then, the statement has been interpreted by some as meaning to wipe out every citizen of Gaza, and was even used as evidence by South Africa during the ICJ hearing.

'Remember what Amalek did to you'

The Prime Minister's Office had this to say:

"Among the absurdities leveled against Israel at the Hague was the charge that after the October 7 massacre, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu incited genocide by quoting the biblical phrase 'remember what Amalek did to you.' This false and preposterous charge reflects a deep historical ignorance."

The statement continues, saying, "The Amalekites mercilessly attacked the Children of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt. The comparison to Amalek has been used throughout the ages to designate those who seek to eradicate the Jewish people, most recently the Nazis."

Additional legitimate uses of the quote

Furthermore, the statement points out that this quote is used in other appropriate instances and is even displayed outside the Hague.

"That is why the words on a banner in a permanent exhibit at Yad Vashem, Israel's famed Holocaust Museum, urge visitors to 'remember what Amalek did to you.' This same phrase appears in the Hague at the memorial for Dutch Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Obviously, neither reference is an incitement to genocide of the German people."

the statement concluded with a clarification of the Prime Minister's true intent by using the quote.

"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 7 and the need to confront them."