Amalek

Amalek
Israel's arch-enemy in rabbinical literature; a modern Zionist code-word for genocide

The Amalekites, descendants of Amalek, according to scripture, were the first foe to attack the people of Israel after they had come out of Egypt as a free nation; twice designated in the Pentateuch (Ex. xvii. 14-16, Deut. xxv. 19) as the one against whom war should be waged until his memory be blotted out forever.

Official narrative

As per Wikipedia:

According to the Torah, there is a commandment to exterminate the memory of Amalek. However, most Jewish commentators maintain that this commandment is no longer applicable today, either because it could only be fulfilled during the period when there was a king in Israel; because the biblical Amalek no longer exists; or because the commandment is understood as symbolic, representing the elimination of evil in the world or as a call for God to carry out this act.

Concerns

The believe in Amalek is not limited to religious practice, is still applied and can have severe real world consequences, as evidenced by Netanyahu's reference to Palestinians as Amalek, saying in October 2023: "you must remember what Amalek has done to you". This type of biblical references is often understood as a perpetual commandment to kill any descendents of the Amalekite people, having long been used by the Israeli far right to justify the killing of Palestinians. The website of Chabad notes: "The nation of Amalek is long gone, but they live on as the internal enemies that we each battle on a daily basis".

Opinions on Amalek

“[...] Rabbis tell us that there will be a nation in the world, right before Mashiach comes. That we will be able to recognize from their character and their behavior, who he is. And the answer is very clear, it's Germany. Commentaries talk about how the concentration of Amalek is mostly in that country. Does it come as a surprise? No, you can see for yourself what they did and what they're capable of doing. But there is Amalek all over the world. Amalek is everywhere and because of that we will have something called war of Gog and Magog [...]”
Elyahu Kin (2009) 

A 2025 Israeli opinion poll found that 65 percent of the Jewish population believes there is a modern-day "Amalek". And of those, about 93 percent think the "mitzvah" , or commandment, to "wipe out the memory of Amalek" should still apply today.

The Israeli singer Ofer Yoel Levy called on Netanyahu to drop atom bombs on Israel's enemies. "Do not fear anything. It is a commandment from the Torah: 'If you have an atomic bomb, start with Yemen, Iran, and Turkey - it is an order from the Torah,' he said. He also compared the countries to Amalek.

Videos

Why the need to Destroy Amalek? Can we identify who he is? - 7200beverly YT channel (January 12, 2014) - This lecture series, "The 70 Most Difficult Questions in Judaism" delivered by Rabbi Elyahu Kin between 2007-2009, discusses some of the more challenging and esoteric questions in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism that people often raise. This last lecture of the series deals with one of the most unusual commandments in the Torah - to wage an eternal battle with Amalek.

Amalek: Israeli officials and soldiers use genocidal phrases for Palestine’s Gaza

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