Thread by @Aizenberg55

🧵Fabricated Israel genocide claim relies on quotes by Israeli officials to show “specific intent” necessary to prove genocide. South Africa ICJ filing lists 8 quotes by PM Netanyahu (numbered below) claiming intent to genocide. But each one is a lie. See debunking of all 8: 1/

Quote 1: Bibi promised “to operate forcefully everywhere.” Does this prove "specific intent" to genocide? NO. Tweet literally says opposite, attacking only Hamas and telling civilians to leave! Lie #1 by South Africa, this is the FIRST evidence claiming Bibi intends genocide. 2/

Quote 2: Bibi said ““[w]e are striking our enemies with unprecedented might.” Did this mean intention to kill all Pals? No. In same 3 min statement he specifically states the goal is to “eliminate Hamas” and NEVER refers to Pals or civilians. Lie #2. 3/

Quote 3: South Africa claims AFTER airstrikes that killed 2,670 Pals Bibi said soldiers “understand scope of mission” & stand ready “to defeat bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against [Israel] to destroy us.” There are 2 lies here, one shows shoddiness of court document. 4/

First, South Africa claims Bibi’s words came AFTER 2,670 Pals killed, as if they were connected. But the document cited about deaths is from Oct 17 (see below) while Bibi’s statement was made on Oct 15 or two days earlier! So the supposed connection is incredibly dishonest. 5/

Second, Bibi said absolutely nothing, zero, about killing Palestinians, genocide, anything like this. Here is the entire statement. It specifically names Hamas as the monsters, not civilians. Lie #3 by South Africa. 6/ gov.il/en/departments…

Quote 4: South Africa cites Bibi saying to Knesset situation as “struggle between the children of light and children of darkness, between humanity and law of the jungle” as “dehumanizing” and therefore "specific intent" to genocide. This is false, just lie #4 as shown next. 7/

Bibi's words to Knesset only cite Hamas, never Palestinians or killing civilians, names Hamas often as the “darkness” & "murderers." Not Palestinians or anyone else. It’s not "dehumanizing" to call rapists & baby kidnappers these things. Below is the core of Bibi's statement. 8/

Quote 5: South Africa cites a second statement by Bibi about “sons of lightness and… darkness” and “good” vs “evil” as somehow genocidal. Here is the full tweet; but the prior tweet in same thread specifically says “Hamas” – not Palestinians. Lie #5. 9/

Quote 6: South Africa cites Bibi’s “Christmas message” below as “specific intent” to kill all Palestinians. It’s not clear how, there is nothing remotely “genocidal.” Calling rapists & baby kidnappers “monsters” and “barbarians” does not evidence genocidal intent. Lie #6. 10/

Quote 7: South Africa claims Bibi’s reference to biblical story of Amalek evidences intent to genocide. But there is no evidence he meant Palestinians vs Hamas only. Amalek is used metaphorically in Jewish study to refer to mortal enemies of Jews, in this case Hamas. 11/

It may be true other Israelis in past used Amalek to refer to Palestinians. This does not therefore prove Bibi meant Pals. But better evidence: in SAME press statement Bibi specifically noted Hamas & “the murderers” were the target; so Hamas=Amalek. 12/ gov.il/en/departments…

Quote 8: This is the second time Bibi mentioned Amalek, again the focus was clearly on Hamas. He literally said Hamas the sentence before. So how it is possible to claim Bibi really said Amalek as meaning to kill ALL Palestinians? Lie #8. 13/

South Africa lies 8 times in failed effort to show Netanyahu voiced “specific intent” to genocide. Without intent proven, entire genocide charge against Israel FALLS APART. How strong can their case be if there isn't even ONE convincing "genocidal" quote by Israel’s PM? END