How Israel’s Netanyahu weaponises religion in his war rhetoric

Speaking at a prominent Jewish conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in West Jerusalem in June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined what he described as a shift in the country’s security doctrine.He invoked a Hebrew phrase – rooted in an ancient Jewish religious and legal text – translated as “If someone comes to kill you, rise and kill him first”, before putting it more simply in English: “Kill them first.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel threatens attacks in Gaza over children’s kiteslist 2 of 3Norway plans further development of Arctic drilling amid EU energy concernslist 3 of 3US launches ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ to cut Iran’s economic lifelineend of listWith this, Netanyahu indicated that Israel’s security doctrine should be that it takes the initiative before an enemy can strike, very much the impetus for Israel’s strategy in the 1967 war with its Arab neighbours.Traditional military strategy has generally avoided referring to Israel’s conflicts as being an existential holy war, likely wary of the global criticism such rhetoric could attract.During International Court of Justice hearings in January 2024, South African lawyer Tembeka Ng...