The world beyond 7 October 2023 is not the same. It is a world that has finally seen beyond the decades-old narrative of a perpetually vulnerable Israel, whose actions were always justified by existential fear. The brutal atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza have inflamed world condemnations. Still, more importantly, they have torn asunder the foundations of this narrative that held Western powers hostage for generations. The collective trauma of 7 October was swiftly overtaken by the shocking spectacle of a no-holds-barred state perpetrating war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and even genocide.

The collapse of the old narrative

The Israeli narrative traditionally pivoted on moral high ground and strategic restraint. That image is now broken, buried, and forever finished. The most damning evidence for the prosecution in the Court of global opinion has come from the language used by Israeli leaders themselves.

The declaration of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on 9 October 2023, for a “complete siege, no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel,” with the dehumanising assertion “We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly,” was indeed a statement of intent that shocked the conscience of the civilized world.

Such language, combined with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invocation of the biblical command “Remember what Amalek has done to you,” has been cited by critics, including the submission by South Africa to the International Court of Justice, as evidence of genocidal intent. Several scholars have noted that this is unusually explicit language.

The sharpest attacks: Voices of the anti-establishment

The most powerful quotations come from voices that were once considered marginal, whose warnings have now been borne out by events. Criticisms that once could easily be dismissed as extreme now reverberate in the mainstream.

As Professor John Mearsheimer of the........

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