At the end of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unhinged rant at the UN, he recited a seemingly obscure Bible verse. But it’s actually a dog whistle for genocide.

The context for the phrase is crucial. Transposed to the Israel of today, Netanyahu is telling his followers: they must go all the way in the annihilation of today’s Amalek. Anything short of that would be to reject the word of God.

The speech itself was a potpourri of lies and incitement, vacillating between condemnations of Zohran Mamdani and Hassan Piker to recounting Israel’s standard October 7 atrocity propaganda and shamelessly repeating the line about Israel having the “most moral army in the world.”

But then, the Israeli Prime Minister chose to end his speech with a seemingly obscure verse from the Bible: “Nezah Israel lo yeshaker,” or “the eternity of Israel will not falter.” The line is sometimes translated as “the eternal one of Israel shall not lie.”

The phrase, which comes from Samuel I, 15:29, relates to the genocide of Amalek, or the Amalekites, the bitter enemy of the Israelites. It’s a biblical reference that Netanyahu has applied numerous times to modern-day Palestinians, most infamously at the start of the Gaza genocide.

King Saul was admonished by the prophet Samuel for failing to completely eradicate the Amalekites. Saul had spared their king Agag and “the best of the sheep and cattle,” which the Israelites “were unwilling to destroy completely.” According to the Bible, this level of annihilation was insufficient and betrayed King Saul’s supposed weakness. That is why the Prophet Samuel admonished the biblical king

Saul sought to defend his actions, but Samuel delivered an uncompromising message:

“You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”

Saul asked for forgiveness, but Samuel delivered the unrepentant message:

“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors — to one better than you. He who is the Eternal One of Israel shall not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”