Netanyahu renames war, taking a shot in the battle of blame

What’s in a name? Unlike Juliet in her famous balcony soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not believe that a war by any other name would be the same.

Earlier this week, the government backed a proposal brought by Netanyahu to rename the war that began with the murderous assault from Gaza on October 7, 2023.  From now on, the longest war in Israel’s history will be officially called, “The War of Revival”.

The term will be used in all public ceremonies and, crucially, the education system.

Netanyahu explained the decision by stating, “We rose from the terrible disaster of October 7. This is the war of our revival—a direct continuation of the War of Independence.”

Actually, the war already had a name.  Computers at the Israel Defense Forces print out random catchy names as soon as the government declares that Israel is at war, and they came up with “Iron Swords” for this one.  But the public rarely accepts these names, and this war is popularly referred to as “The War of October 7” or “The Gaza War”. At The Jewish Independent we often referred it as The Israel-Hamas War, making it clear that Israel’s opponent is Hamas, not all Palestinians.

Netanyahu has never liked the name, “Iron Swords” – and he likes the popular names even less. The naming-shaming in the popular branding has made it difficult for him to distance himself from the worst disaster the Jewish world has known since the Holocaust.  They bring up the associations of the death, the horror, the trauma, and the government’s failure - and his responsibility for them.