Israeli PM Netanyahu Calls For Social Darwinism In Both Speech And Official Tweet, Lauds “Slaughtering” The “Weak” In Favor Of The “Strong”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a speech against Iran on August 29th, 2018 where he said that the weak deserve to be slaughtered by the strong:

In a pointed warning to Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that any country that threatens to destroy Israel risks meeting a similar fate, while vowing to continue taking action against the Islamic Republic’s military presence in Syria.

Netanyahu spoke during a ceremony at the nuclear research facility in Dimona, which was renamed after the late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, who died in September 2016.

“Shimon aspired toward peace but he knew that true peace can be achieved only if our hands strongly grasp defensive weaponry,” Netanyahu said at the top-secret site.

Israel has never acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons, instead maintaining a policy of “strategic ambiguity.” Foreign reports have put the size of Israel’s nuclear arsenal in the dozens to hundreds of weapons.

Peres, who later became known for his efforts to reach peace with the Palestinians and Arab countries, played a leading role in the early development of Israel’s military industry and the nuclear facility in Dimona, which was initially portrayed to the world as a textile factory.

In light of Peres’s longtime promotion of an accommodation with the Palestinians and the Arab world, Netanyahu said peace must be reached from a position of strength.

“In the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there is a simple truth: There is no place for the weak. The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive,” he said.

“The strong are respected, and alliances are made with the strong, and in the end peace is made with the strong.”

Netanyahu credited this strength for the “normalization” of Israel’s relations with “leading countries in the Arab world,” apparently referring to growing unofficial ties with nations such as Saudi Arabia.

Though saying he held out hope Israel will be able to achieve peace with its neighbors, Netanyahu noted the Jewish state continues to face threats from near and far.

“But our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of doing. They are familiar with our policy. Whoever tries to hurt us – we hurt them,” he said.

“I am not spouting slogans. I am describing a persistent, clear and determined policy… backed by appropriate deployment, equipment, preparedness and – in the hour of need – appropriate orders,” Netanyahu added.

Turning to Iran, the prime minister reiterated Israel’s opposition to any Iranian military presence in Syria, likening Israeli efforts to do so to his campaign for the cancellation of the 2015 international agreement meant to limit Tehran’s nuclear program.

Noting the effect of renewed sanctions on Iran’s economy following US President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the accord in May, Netanyahu said Israel would continue to work through diplomatic channels “to apply pressure on the dangerous, extremist regime” in Iran.

He said the Israeli military will continue to take action against Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and issued an emphatic warning against those who call for Israel’s annihilation, such as the Islamic Republic.

“Whoever threatens us with destruction puts himself in similar danger, and in any case will not achieve his goal,” Netanyahu said.

Hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister slammed Netanyahu as a “warmonger” for threatening Iran with “atomic annihilation.”

“Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory. Beyond shameless in the gall,” Zarif tweeted. (source)

He later retweeted that exact same quote to the official Israeli PM twitter account:

The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive. The strong are respected, and alliances are made with the strong, and in the end peace is made with the strong.

A snapshot of the tweet from the official Israeli PM Twitter account is below:

This quote bears a striking semblance to a quote from a speech by Adolph Hitler in 1923 where he lauds slaughtering the weak. The full speech is here, and one can compare the quotes:

…

Hitler: “The whole of nature is a mighty struggle between strength and weakness, an eternal victory of the strong over the weak.”

Netanyahu: “The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive. The strong are respected, and alliances are made with the strong, and in the end peace is made with the strong.”

…

The quotes obviously are not the same, but they contain the same spirit of social darwinism. It is the idea from the title of the infamous 19th century anonymous book by “Ragnar Redbeard” called Might Makes Right, where the “strong” deserve to murder the “weak,” and that Christianity is a religion for “weak” people because it emphasizes mercy and kindness.

Many people were upset with the speech and tweet. This included both Jews and non-Jews. As some noted, if this was a Muslim or a person of another religion who said this, let alone directing it towards Israel, she would not tolerate it:

Social Darwinism is an immoral philosophy no matter who the adherent is. All men are created in God’s image and likeness, and while men may have disagreements with each other, and even fight with each other, objective truth or the right to rule is not defined by one’s capacity for force. While the stronger tend to rule over the weaker just as the borrower is the slave of the lender, the possession of power does not impart moral license to anybody, strong or weak, but the responsibility to be a wise custodian of what one has. It is a mutual responsibility, and in the situation that between two groups there is one party that refuses to abide, it does not give license to the other one to refuse.

“Threats,” be they real or imagined, also do not justify social darwinist philosophy either because it is to use one evil to justify another. It is equivalent to the “counter-jihad” movement’s approach to Islam, that while pointing out the evils of Islam they would use another evil, that of ultranationalism and militarism as the “answer” to the said problem.

Such comments only serve to fuel war-like attitudes and hatred, and is but one of the aggravating factors driving the world to war today.