By Abdelraouf Arna'out
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again used Jewish religious references to encourage his soldiers in their fight against the Palestinian groups in Gaza.
At least three times, Netanyahu quoted scriptures in his speeches to justify the onslaught on Gaza.
In a letter he addressed to the Israeli soldiers and officers on Friday, he used several quotes from the Torah to incite them against the Gaza Strip.
"Remember what Amalek did to you," Netanyahu told the Israeli soldiers, in reference to the warring Amalekites tribe, mentioned in several books of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, to justify their attacks on Gaza.
“This is a war between the children of light and the children of darkness,” Netanyahu said using these words of religious connotation. "We will not relent in our mission until the light overcomes the darkness; the good will defeat the extremist evil that threatens us and the entire world."
"You have girded me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me," Netanyahu quoted from the Jewish book of Tanakh (Psalms 18:40).
Last week, Netanyahu also invoked Jewish and Christian scripture to justify the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
"The Bible says that 'there is a time for peace and a time for war.' This is a time for war," Netanyahu told a press conference, quoting Ecclesiastes, a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
On Oct. 28, he invoked for the first time the Amalekites theory to justify his actions against Gaza.
“With shared forces, with deep faith in the justice of our cause and in the eternity of Israel, we will realize the prophecy of Isaiah 60:18 – 'Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise',” he said.
The Israeli army has widened its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since the surprise offensive by Hamas on Oct. 7.
More than 10,700 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 9,227 Palestinians and more than 1,538 Israelis.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar