Netanyahu Denies Inciting Genocide in Gaza  

Pro-Palestinian supporters gather near the ICJ in The Hague on Friday. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian supporters gather near the ICJ in The Hague on Friday. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Denies Inciting Genocide in Gaza  

Pro-Palestinian supporters gather near the ICJ in The Hague on Friday. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian supporters gather near the ICJ in The Hague on Friday. (Reuters)

Israel on Tuesday dismissed claims of genocidal intent in statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.

“This false and preposterous charge reflects a deep historical ignorance,” the Israeli Prime Minister office said in an official statement.

The Israeli response came after South Africa provided evidence accusing Netanyahu of inciting genocide following his use of the term “Amalek” - the eternal enemy of the Jewish people while comparing them to Hamas.

The South African legal team last week used the Israeli PM’s incitement to genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza in the first hearing before the International Court of Justice in its lawsuit against Israel.

It said that during the war on Gaza, Netanyahu twice used the term “Amalek”.

On October 28, as the military ground operation into Gaza began, the PM addressed Israeli soldiers by saying: “Remember what the Amalekites did to you. We remember, and we are fighting.”

In another message to his soldiers on November 3, Netanyahu repeated the “Amalek” narrative in a social media post, “We have always fought bitter enemies who have risen up against us to destroy us. Equipped with strength of spirit and a just cause, we have stood determined against those who seek our lives.”

He added: “The current fight against the murderers of Hamas is another chapter in the generations-long story of our national resilience. Remember what Amalek did to you.”

Also, in a nationally televised address on October 28, the PM invoked the prophecy of Isaiah, saying: “This is a war between the children of light and the children of darkness. We are the people of light, they are the people of darkness. We shall realize the prophecy of Isaiah!”

According to historians, the Amalekites are Arabs belonging to a tribe of nomadic Bedouin who inhabited the Sinai Peninsula and southern Palestine. In Jewish folklore, the Amalekites are considered to be the symbol of evil.

They are mentioned in the First Book of Samuel in the Torah, which called for their destruction. “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys,” it says.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s office issued a statement, at the advice of Netanyahu’s lawyers, denying South Africa’s accusations.

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

Furthermore, the statement said 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,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The statement concluded with a clarification of Netanyahu’s true intent in using the quote: “So, too, the Prime Minister's reference to Amalek was not an incitement to genocide of Palestinians but a description of the utterly evil actions perpetrated by the genocidal terrorist of Hamas on October 7 and the need to confront them.”



Trump Says Must End Conflict in Lebanon

 Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump reacts after complaining about its sound during a campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump reacts after complaining about its sound during a campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Must End Conflict in Lebanon

 Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump reacts after complaining about its sound during a campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump reacts after complaining about its sound during a campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US November 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday, speaking to an audience including Arab Americans in the battleground state of Michigan, said it was time to get the Israel-Lebanon conflict over with.

"I know many people from Lebanon and we have to get this whole thing over with," he said.

Trump on Friday met with Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan — the nation’s largest Arab-majority city — as the Republican presidential nominee works to court the potentially decisive group despite his history of Islamophobic rhetoric and policy.

Trump was greeted with cheers and applause from a modest crowd at The Great Commoner restaurant in one of his campaign’s final attempts to garner support in the key battleground state.

Metro Detroit is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Arab Americans, with a large chunk of them living in Dearborn. The city — which Democrat Joe Biden won by a 3-to-1 margin in 2020 — has been roiled by political turmoil, with many upset with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Democrats worry that anger over the war will lead traditionally loyal voters to shift their votes to Trump or third-party candidates like Jill Stein — or skip the top of the ballot altogether. This could prove pivotal in Michigan, a state both parties see as a toss-up.

While the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has been working through surrogates to ease community tensions, Trump’s visit marked the first by either candidate, according to a local leader, Osama Siblani. Earlier this year, Harris met with the city’s Democratic mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, though their discussion took place outside Dearborn.

The meeting with Arab supporters Friday follows Trump’s rally in Michigan last week, when he brought local Muslims up onstage with him. Trump has also received endorsements from two Democratic mayors of Muslim-majority cities.

"It is time to prioritize our nation’s best interests and foster lasting peace for all," Albert Abbas, an Arab American, said Friday while standing next to Trump. "This current administration has failed miserably in all aspects of humanity."

He added, "We look to a Trump presidency with hope and envisioning a time where peace flourishes, particularly in Lebanon and Palestine."

While many Democratic leaders in the Arab community have not endorsed Harris, they are still deeply negative toward Trump and say his endorsements don’t reflect a majority of the community. They remember his call for a "total and complete shutdown" on Muslims entering the country and his travel restrictions on visitors from Muslim-majority countries. And some point out that Trump has suggested he would give Israel even more leeway to attack its rivals in the region.

Top community leaders in Dearborn, including Hammoud, declined an invitation to meet with Trump while he was in town. Many community leaders say that while Harris has never earned their endorsement, they are still overwhelmingly opposed to Trump.

Siblani, a prominent figure in the community who has engaged with Democratic leaders about ongoing tensions, noted that many "do not trust" Trump because of his past policies and remarks. However, he emphasized the significance of Trump’s visit to Dearborn.

"Kamala should have done this months ago," Siblani said.

Harris defended her record on the issue Friday, telling reporters that she’s "proud to have significant amount of support from the Arab American community," while adding that she continues to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.

Israel invaded Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and last month launched an invasion of Lebanon to suppress Hezbollah, the party that has continuously launched rockets into Israeli territory. At least 43,000 people have died in Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish in its death toll between combatants and civilians.

Abbas said Trump allies had reached out to him several weeks ago about hosting Trump in Dearborn. Before hosting Trump, Abbas said he wanted to see a statement from Trump that he said showed Trump "has the intentions of ending the war and helping us rebuild Lebanon and helping the displaced and the injured."

That statement came Wednesday, when Trump posted on X that he wanted to "stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon."

"I will preserve the equal partnership among all Lebanese communities," Trump said on X. "Your friends and family in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity, and harmony with their neighbors, and that can only happen with peace and stability in the Middle East."

Once Trump put out the statement, Abbas said he agreed to host the event.