Chapter 127: Human Animals

471      “Now we all have one common goal . . .”  Nissim Vaturi, X, October 7, 2023, 12:33 p.m., x.com/nissimv/status/1710694866009596169, archived at archive.today, May 23, 2025 capture, archive.ph/CewKG.

471      “Who’s left in Gaza? Are there citizens?”  Nissim Vaturi quoted in Ariella Marsden, “Likud MK Calls to ‘Burn Gaza’ in Latest Controversy,” Jerusalem Post, November 20, 2023, www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-774213.
 
471      “There are only tunnels, Hamas . . .” Vaturi quoted in Marsden, “Likud MK Calls to ‘Burn Gaza’ in Latest Controversy,” www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-774213.

471      “a complete siege on the Gaza Strip” Yoav Gallant quoted in Emanuel Fabian, “Defense Minister Announces ‘Complete Siege’ of Gaza: No Power, Food or Fuel,” The Times of Israel, October 9, 2023, www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/.

471      “There will be no electricity, no food . . .”  Gallant quoted in Fabian, “Defense Minister Announces ‘Complete Siege’ of Gaza: No Power, Food or Fuel,” www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/.

471      “We are fighting human animals . . .”  Gallant quoted in Fabian, “Defense Minister Announces ‘Complete Siege’ of Gaza: No Power, Food or Fuel,” www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/.

471      “What happens to a Russian . . . does not interest me in the slightest”  “Excerpt from Himmler’s Speech to the SS-Gruppenführer at Posen (October 4, 1943),” German History in Documents and Images, ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1513.

471      “We Germans . . . towards these human animals” “Excerpt from Himmler’s Speech to the SS-Gruppenführer at Posen (October 4, 1943),” ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1513.

471      “no non-combatants” in Gaza Amihai Eliyahu quoted in Sébastian Seibt, “From Outrage to Hate: In the Wake of October 7, Israel’s Far Right Seeks to Extend Its Influence,” France 24, November 8, 2023, www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231108-from-outrage-to-hate-in-the-wake-of-october-7-israel-s-far-right-seeks-to-extend-its-influence.

471      “. . . more painful than death”  Amihai Eliyahu quoted in “Israel Minister Calls for ‘Ways More Painful Than Death’ for Palestinians,” Middle East Monitor, January 6, 2024, www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240106-israel-minister-calls-for-ways-more-painful-than-death-for-palestinians/.
 
471–472 “eviscerated” and . . . “into a parking lot” “Max Miller: I Will Not Tolerate Hate or Antisemitism in the Halls of Congress,” Fox News, October 10, 2023, www.foxnews.com/video/6338813818112,0:51–1:01.

472     “between the civilian population in other places . . .”  Eliyahu Mali quoted in Natalie Merzougui and Maria Rashed, “Has Israel Taken Enough Action to Prevent Alleged Incitement to Genocide?” BBC News, August 26, 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze5w2wd4x0o.

472     without evidence . . . “95 to 98 percent are interested in our demise” Mali quoted in Merzougui and Rashed, “Has Israel Taken Enough Action to Prevent Alleged Incitement to Genocide?” www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze5w2wd4x0o.

472     “According to the scriptures . . .”  Mali quoted in Merzougui and Rashed, “Has Israel Taken Enough Action to Prevent Alleged Incitement to Genocide?” Taken Enough Action to Prevent Alleged Incitement to Genocide www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze5w2wd4x0o.

472     “If you don’t kill them, they will kill you”  Mali quoted in Merzougui and Rashed, “Has Israel Taken Enough Action to Prevent Alleged Incitement to Genocide?” www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze5w2wd4x0o.

472     “You must remember what Amalek has done . . .” Sky News, “Israel–Hamas War: ‘We Will Fight and We Will Win,’ Says Benjamin Netanyahu,” YouTube, October 28, 2023, youtu.be/P5LmB6uup3o?si=xWV-xdpdgcmtqXbk, 1:51–1:56; and Noah Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” Mother Jones, November 3, 2023, www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

472     commanded . . .to kill every Amalekite. Saul disobeyed but did execute Agag  1 Samuel 15: 1–9 (JPS, 1985), Sefaria Library, accessed May 2, 2025, www.sefaria.org/I_Samuel.15; and Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

472     nearly exterminated the ancient Israelites living under Persian rule The William Davidson Talmud, Megillah 13a; Esther 3 (JPS, 1985), Sefaria Library, accessed May 2, 2025, www.sefaria.org/Esther.3; Esther 7 (JPS, 1985), Sefaria Library, accessed May 2, 2025, www.sefaria.org/Esther.7; and Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

472     referenced . . . in “Genocide: A Commandment of the Torah” . . . Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

472     identified Palestinians as modern-day Amalekites  Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

472–473 massacred twenty-nine Palestinians . . .  Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

473      a portrait . . . in his living room  Lanard, “The Dangerous History Behind Netanyahu’s Amalek Rhetoric,” www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/.

473      “Jews murdered in the West Bank are more important . . .”  Simcha Rothman quoted in Seibt, “From Outrage to Hate,” www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231108-from-outrage-to-hate-in-the-wake-of-october-7-israel-s-far-right-seeks-to-extend-its-influence.

473      “The main reason we have reached this situation” is “the crimes of the left . . .”  In addition to “the crimes of the left,” Shai Galili also cites “the crimes of Oslo.” Galili quoted in David Wertheim, “Likud Critic on Channel 14: ‘The Leftist Cancer Is to Blame for the War,’” Walla, October 10, 2023, b.walla.co.il/item/3614935, via Google Translate.

473      “In any other country in the world . . .”  Galili quoted in Wertheim, “Likud Critic on Channel 14,” b.walla.co.il/item/3614935,

473      aimed at altering . . . for judicial appointments  A proposed plan would have empowered the government “to appoint a majority of the members of the panel that selects new judges, upending the current system in which government appointees form only a minority of panel members.” Patrick Kingsley, “Netanyahu Surges Ahead with Judicial Overhaul, Prompting Fury in Israel,” New York Times, January 12, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-judicial-reform.html.

473      curtailing . . . to review (and block) . . .  Under this plan, “a simple majority of lawmakers could override almost any revocation of parliamentary legislation by the Supreme Court, which can currently block laws on constitutional grounds. The court would only be able to prevent itself from being overruled by Parliament if all of its 15 judges unanimously agreed about the need to block a law.” Kingsley, “Netanyahu Surges Ahead with Judicial Overhaul, Prompting Fury in Israel,” www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-judicial-reform.html.

473      poured into the streets to protest and hold strikes  “Netanyahu Delays Judicial Overhaul Plan, Backtracking After Unprecedented Strikes and Protests,” Washington Post, March 27, 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/27/israel-judicial-reform-protests-live-updates/.

473      passed a bill abolishing . . . which the Supreme Court later struck down Bethan McKernan, “Israeli Parliament Votes In Netanyahu’s Controversial Supreme Court Changes,” The Guardian, July 24, 2023, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/24/israeli-parliament-votes-in-netanyahu-controversial-supreme-court-changes; and Josef Federman and Melanie Lidman, “Israel’s Supreme Court Overturns a Key Component of Netanyahu’s Polarizing Judicial Overhaul,” Associated Press (AP) News, January 1, 2024, apnews.com/article/israel-supreme-court-judicial-overhaul-78733a94428b8b9f2c311ee6779eba23.

473–474 secret troll farm, funded . . . $2 million and executed by a political marketing firm  Sheera Frenkel, “Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers with Influence Campaign on Gaza War,” New York Times, June 5, 2024, updated June 6, 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/technology/israel-campaign-gaza-social-media.html.

474     Hundreds . . . “digital soldiers” . . . on X, Facebook, and Instagram  Frenkel, “Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers with Influence Campaign on Gaza War,” www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/technology/israel-campaign-gaza-social-media.html.

474     posted their support for the Israeli war in Gaza  Frenkel, “Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers with Influence Campaign on Gaza War,” www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/technology/israel-campaign-gaza-social-media.html.

474     focusing . . . to urge them to keep funding . . . the Israeli military  Frenkel, “Israel Secretly Targets U.S. Lawmakers with Influence Campaign on Gaza War,” www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/technology/israel-campaign-gaza-social-media.html.