Someone in my replies said something earlier that really resonated with me. I think the most sinister part of the false and malicious Israel “genocide” blood libel is the implication on the whole general population of Israel (and let’s be honest, people mean: “Jews”). The IDF is a reserve army, and a big one. It dwarfs, say, the British Army in size. Drawn from civilian life, it means that IDF soldiers are from every walk of civil society. They’re sons and daughters, brothers, sisters and cousins of ordinary Israelis. And therefore, by implication, if their family members are committing genocide, then Israeli society is complicit. That’s why this blood libel is so insidious and vicious. It is, of course, a deliberate attack on Israel as a society as well as Israel as a state. I’ve been to Israel. I now have many Israeli friends and colleagues. I’ve seen a wild and understandable hatred of Hamas, that I share. It is exceptionally seldom that I have heard anyone speak viciously about Palestinian civilians. Of course, there are always the Ben Gvirs and Smotrichs of this world who do more damage to their country than they realise. Israelis know their sons, daughters, family members aren’t committing genocide. Along with the obvious insult of Holocaust inversion, that’s why this allegation is so nasty and vicious: it’s a direct, libellous attack on Jewish families. Hamas are masters of this kind of psychological savagery, as well as the physical kind. Their strategy is multi-pronged: attack Israel physically; attack Israel and the rest of the world cognitively.
See Tweet