(image of Amsalem via davidvaaknin.blogspot.com)
(mechon-mamre.org) The ambush by Amalek: Exodus 17:8-16
At the time of the exodus, the Amalekites has moved out of their traditional transjordan territory into the Negev just west of Petra: Numbers 13:29
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 Amalekites were a tribe had their origin within the Edomites, being descendants of Esau. They are often associated with Edom, living in the same area as Edom. Their traditional territory is transjordan between Babylon and the gulf of Aqaba.
When American author and Israel expert Jeffrey Goldberg recently asked a Netanyahu confidant to explain this fixation, he simply replied: "Think Amalek." This is the Jewish concept that forms a potentially disastrous parallel to the Islamic Haqqani school — a pair of mirror-image concepts that could spell war. In a biblical context, Amalek was a descendant of Esau who, with his tribal warriors from Canaan, launched a treacherous and unprovoked attack on the Hebrews as they were traveling to the Holy Land, Eretz Israel. In a broader sense, the term Amalek refers to the existential threat to Judaism at all times, under all circumstances and by all enemies. The Torah, Devarim 25, Fifth Book of Moses, reads: "Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt–how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear."
Accusation of Amalek No Jewish generation is permitted to forget the conflict with Amalek, because Amalek embodies the intrinsically evil and destructive. Fighting Amalek is the duty of every devout Jew, a "mitzvah aseh" or commandment of action. According to some interpretations of ancient scripture, this mitzvah is more far-reaching, namely a commandment to eliminate the original enemies of the Jews.Rabbis like Bibi Netanyahu's grandfather taught, and continue to teach today, that Jews are forced to combat the Amalekites, who are constantly, as Goldberg puts it, "reappearing in new forms": the soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar and of the Spanish Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada, Adolf Hitler's thugs, and now the Iranian hardliners ,who are vowing to destroy Israel, together with their president, Ahmadinejad. Those who, like Netanyahu, see Iran's nuclear program as Amalek's arsenal of weapons, are not just entitled, but are in fact obligated, to take preventive measures to destroy it. According to Jewish apocalyptic constructs, a Jewish state would cease to exist after a possible Iranian nuclear first strike. In other words, it is better to attack first in the case of doubt.The notion that Iran, if it were to use nuclear weapons, would be acting suicidally and would see its government and hundreds of thousands of innocent people wiped out in the inevitable counter-attack is irrelevant. In fact, say the anti-Amalekites, Ahmadinejad literally yearns for such an inferno, because it would pave the way for the return of the Mahdi in the resulting end-time scenario. The Israelis reject as naïve the idea that Ahmadinejad is "merely" a populist and, with his nuclear program, could "only" be pursuing tactical goals like the regional strengthening of Iran to bring it to the same level as Israel, a nuclear power.But the signs are currently pointing to stormy weather ahead: to Haqqani versus Anti-Amalek, and to a showdown between the unlike twins.via euro-med.dk
