The phrase, which comes from Samuel I, 15:29, relates to the genocide of Amalek, or the Amalekites, the bitter enemy of the Israelites. It’s a biblical reference that Netanyahu has applied numerous times to modern-day Palestinians, most infamously at the start of the Gaza genocide. …

The context for the phrase is crucial. Transposed to the Israel of today, Netanyahu is telling his followers: they must go all the way in the annihilation of today’s Amalek. Anything short of that would be to reject the word of God.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the UN General Assembly yesterday in New York. Hundreds of protesters blocked access roads to the UN, and about a hundred were arrested for demanding Netanyahu’s arrest — among them actors Susan Sarandon, Hannah Einbinder, and Debra Winger.

Inside the hall, as Netanyahu took to the stage, a walkout of many dozens ensued for about 1.5 minutes, as Israel’s cronies chanted “Am Yisrael Chai” (‘the nation of Israel lives’).

The speech itself was a potpourri of lies and incitement, vacillating between condemnations of Zohran Mamdani and Hassan Piker to recounting Israel’s standard October 7 atrocity propaganda and shamelessly repeating the line about Israel having the “most moral army in the world.”

But then, the Israeli Prime Minister chose to end his speech with a seemingly obscure verse from the Bible: “Nezah Israel lo yeshaker,” or “the eternity of Israel will not falter.” The line is sometimes translated as “the eternal one of Israel shall not lie.”

Either way, readers unversed in the Bible will no doubt find all of this vague. But Netanyahu’s followers in the national-religious camp know exactly what he’s referring to — and it’s a genocidal dog whistle.

It’s important to remember that Israeli elections are only a month away (October 27), so his speech is in large measure aimed at this constituency.

So here’s the context.

The phrase, which comes from Samuel I, 15:29, relates to the genocide of Amalek, or the Amalekites, the bitter enemy of the Israelites. It’s a biblical reference that Netanyahu has applied numerous times to modern-day Palestinians, most infamously at the start of the Gaza genocide.

King Saul was admonished by the prophet Samuel for failing to completely eradicate the Amalekites. Saul had spared their king Agag and “the best of the sheep and cattle,” which the Israelites “were unwilling to destroy completely.” According to the Bible, this level of annihilation was insufficient and betrayed King Saul’s supposed weakness. That is why the Prophet Samuel admonished the biblical king:

“The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

Saul sought to defend his actions, but Samuel delivered an uncompromising message:

“You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!” 

Saul asked for forgiveness, but Samuel delivered the unrepentant message:

“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors — to one better than you. He who is the Eternal One of Israel shall not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” 

The context for the phrase is crucial. Transposed to the Israel of today, Netanyahu is telling his followers: they must go all the way in the annihilation of today’s Amalek. Anything short of that would be to reject the word of God.

It wasn’t the first time that Netanyahu had deployed precisely this phrase. In May 2024, when the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, among others, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Netanyahu responded with two videos, one in English and one in Hebrew. He called the whole thing a “blood libel” and compared Khan to a Nazi judge. While the English version of the rant ended with “never again is now”, the Hebrew one ended with the same line: “Netzah Israel lo yeshaker.”

The quote was also applied by Netanyahu in 2017, when he delivered another UN speech, but it was reserved for the Hebrew transcript.

Netanyahu’s use of Biblical messaging isn’t arbitrary. It’s a message he sends to his constituency, and today that message reads: genocide to the end.

In yesterday’s UN speech, he summed it all up like this: “And the reason is simple. We have no other choice. Thank you all. Chag Sameach le’Am Yisrael,” or “happy holidays to the nation of Israel.”

In other words, we have no choice but genocide.

It’s possible to mention many more things about his speech, which also included the standard kitsch-bravado stories about his brother Yonatan (Yoni), who was killed at the Entebbe operation in 1976, but we must not lose sight of the main point: a wanted war criminal got onstage at the UN to incite continued genocide — another nadir for the crumbling institution.