How Israel’s Netanyahu weaponises religion in his war rhetoric

The Israeli prime minister has used ancient religious texts to validate pre-emptive warfare and bypass international law.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [File: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP]Published On 25 Aug 2026Speaking 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 Ngcukaitobi highlighted Netanyahu’s command to Israeli troops at the start of the war on Gaza to “remember what Amalek has done to you”.“This refers to the Biblical command by God to Saul for the retaliatory destruction of an entire group of people,” the lawyer told the court.Ngcukaitobi concluded that this was evidence of genocidal intent in Gaza, where more than 73,400 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. Other experts also describe the war as a genocide.In January 2026, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK filed a formal request for the United Kingdom to impose targeted financial and travel sanctions on Netanyahu due to this comment.‘Human animals’Other Israeli leaders and commanders have used similar language to demonise Palestinians and dictate military actions.When former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a complete siege on Gaza – including power, food and fuel – he said Israel was fighting “human animals“.While not explicitly a religious reference, it is indicative of the dehumanising language used by Israeli leaders against Palestinians.Jewish religious figures have in the past issued edicts to the military. In 2004, Avraham Shapira, a leading rabbi, warned soldiers that dismantling illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza was a major sin akin to eating pork.Since the 1948 Nakba – when 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes during the formation of the Israeli state – the country’s leaders have also used religious discourse during times of war.Despite being a “secular Zionist”, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, actually used more biblical and rabbinic references in his wartime speeches than Netanyahu has done, according to a 2025 Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) study.Israelis have also used the Bible as a justification for their occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is among the many Israeli politicians who believe settlers are biblically entitled to the occupied West Bank, which they refer to by the biblical name of Judea and Samaria.The Israeli government has recently allocated unprecedented funds within a $271bn budget to entrench the occupation of the West Bank, where approximately 700,000 settlers now live.This comes amid a surge of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with more than 3,700 attacks on Palestinians there over the past two years.Ibrahim Abusharif, an associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that casting the conflict through biblical imagery transforms complex geopolitics into a moral drama.“The war itself is not theological. It is geopolitical. But the language surrounding it increasingly draws on sacred imagery and civilisational narratives,” Abusharif said.This political rhetoric has manifested concretely on the front lines, most notably in the actions of figures like Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, an Israeli army reservist and rabbinical judge who has demolished homes in Gaza and southern Lebanon.In January 2025, Zarbiv boasted on Israeli television about the destruction inflicted on Gaza, and gloated that tens of thousands of displaced Palestinian families have “no home”.The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a war crimes complaint against him at the International Criminal Court for participating in the destruction of Palestinian neighbourhoods.Transport Minister Miri Regev selected the rabbi to light a torch at the nation’s Independence Day ceremony.B’Tselem condemned this as a state-level endorsement of the systematic destruction of Palestinian life.The Israeli rights group said this sends the message that “genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes are the ‘spirit of the nation'”.