Goldberg Blowing Bibi’s Dog Whistle?
Goldberg Blowing Bibi’s Dog Whistle?
In yesterday’s New York Times, Jeffrey Goldberg gave voice, and some historical context, to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s fears about Iran:
[Netanyahu]’s preoccupation with the Iranian nuclear program seems sincere and deeply felt. I recently asked one of his advisers to gauge for me the depth of Mr. Netanyahu’s anxiety about Iran. His answer: “Think Amalek.”
“Amalek,” in essence, is Hebrew for “existential threat.” Tradition holds that the Amalekites are the undying enemy of the Jews. They appear in Deuteronomy, attacking the rear columns of the Israelites on their escape from Egypt. The rabbis teach that successive generations of Jews have been forced to confront the Amalekites: Nebuchadnezzar, the Crusaders, Torquemada, Hitler and Stalin are all manifestations of Amalek’s malevolent spirit.
If Iran’s nuclear program is, metaphorically, Amalek’s arsenal, then an Israeli prime minister is bound by Jewish history to seek its destruction, regardless of what his allies think.
There’s a bit more to the significance of “Amalek” here than Goldberg lets on. It’s true that the biblical role of the Amalekites is essentially to harass and persecute the Israelites, but that’s only part of it. The other part is that the Amalekites — men, women, children, and livestock –get destroyed in huge numbers by divine command (I Samuel 15:3) — something we would probably refer to as “widespread atrocities,” if not outright “genocide” in a modern context.
Interestingly, as Goldberg himself has reported in the past — but for some reason neglects to mention in his article — invocations of “Amalek” are a feature of extremist Israeli settler propaganda against Palestinians and Arabs, something which I’m sure is not lost on Israel’s more right-wing American supporters. In a 2004 New Yorker article on the Israeli settler movement, Goldberg asked Benzi Lieberman, the chairman of the council of settlements “if he thought the Amalekites existed today.” Lieberman responded:
“The Palestinians are Amalek!” Lieberman went on, “We will destroy them. We won’t kill them all. But we will destroy their ability to think as a nation. We will destroy Palestinian nationalism.”
It seems like an adviser to the Israeli prime minister deploying this historical metaphor against Iran is just the kind of thing that might encourage a rational Iranian regime to try and obtain some sort of a deterrent. It’s also interesting that Goldberg — who has been one of Israel’s chief Iran alarm-bell ringers here in the U.S., always noting with great concern the various utterances of Iran’s leaders against Israel — should have no problem conveying it. Just as with Rick Warren’s comments about biblical support for assassination, it’s the kind of thing that Americans and Israelis tend to freak about when it comes from the other side, but downplay or apologize for when it happens in our own political-cultural context — when we even notice it.
Clearly, Iran presents a challenge for both the U.S. and Israel. But I’m not sure what purpose is served by casting Iran as such an unreasoning, irrational, and undeterrable foe, other than maybe frightening people in order to short-circuit attempts at diplomacy.
Also, read Bernard Avishai and Tony Karon.
6 Responses to “Goldberg Blowing Bibi’s Dog Whistle?”
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This is why Obama’s statements are critical:
“I understand very clearly that Israel considers Iran an existential threat, and given some of the statements that have been made by [Iranian] President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, you can understand why,” Obama said in an interview with Newsweek.
With respect to concerns Israel might carry out an air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, the US president said that since Israel is “right there in the range” of Iranian missiles, “their calculation of costs and benefits are going to be more acute.”
Obama remarked that he did not think it was his place to “determine for the Israelis what their security needs are.”
May 18th, 2009 at 3:05 pmClearly, Iran presents a challenge for both the U.S. and Israel.
More unsubstantiated BS – unworthy to be called journalism.
May 18th, 2009 at 4:27 pmWhen NPR told us last night that Bibi would announce his endorsement of the two-state solution after meeting Obama, I knew it was too good to be true. But it should have been! What’s the point of continuing to prop up Israel if they don’t show a willingness to compromise? Bibi and Lieberman are hard-liners, and that’s how we should be treating them. Otherwise it’s just going to be more money and lives down the hole with no progress in return.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:46 pmWhen NPR told us last night that Bibi would announce his endorsement of the two-state solution after meeting Obama, I knew it was too good to be true. But it should have been! What’s the point of continuing to prop up Israel if they don’t show a willingness to compromise? Bibi and Lieberman are hard-liners, and that’s how we should be treating them; otherwise it’s just going to be more money and lives down the hole with no progress in return.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:48 pmRE: “Amalek,” in essence, is Hebrew for “existential threat.” Tradition holds that the Amalekites are the undying enemy of the Jews.
BUSH TOLD CHIRAC:“Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East”
FROM THE ARTICLE “When God Spoke to Me”: …..During those private interviews, Jacque Chirac had purportedly confessed to the journalist some personal remarks regarding the faith of George W. Bush that seemed quite daunting. He told the journalist that the latter called him twice beseeching him basically, in the name of their common “spiritual faith”, i.e., “Christianity”, to join the collective effort of the coalition being formed to wage a preemptive war against Iraq. In his first telephonic call he reportedly said to Jacque Chirac: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East” and then added that “the biblical prophecies are being fulfilled”…..
ENTIRE ARTICLE -
May 20th, 2009 at 6:23 amhttp://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14890
RE: I recently asked one of his advisers to gauge for me the depth of Mr. Netanyahu’s anxiety about Iran. His answer: “Think Amalek.”
NETANYAHU’S FATHER: “The Bible finds no worse image than this of the man from the desert. And why? Because he has no respect for any law. Because in the desert he can do as he pleases. The tendency towards conflict is in the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won’t allow him any compromise or agreement. It doesn’t matter what kind of resistance he will meet, what price he will pay. His existence is one of perpetuate war.”…
….”The two states solution doesn’t exist. There are no two people here. There is a Jewish people and an Arab population… there is no Palestinian people, so you don’t create a state for an imaginary nation… they only call themselves a people in order to fight the Jews.” – Benzion Netanyahu, 2009 interview
SOURCE OF NETANYAHU’S FATHER’S WORDS – http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/04/04/bibis-fathers-answer-to-the-arab-problem-hang-em-in-the-town-square/
May 20th, 2009 at 6:27 am