There is no more poisonous accusation in modern politics than that of "genocide" against Israel. It is the crime of crimes, summoning the gas chambers of Auschwitz, the killing fields of Rwanda and the slaughter of the Armenians. Yet for three years it has been hurled at the Jewish state with such abandon that much of the Western world now treats it as established fact.
So successful has the propaganda become that today, referring to "the genocide" has only one meaning: the thing that never was one. That is a stunning inversion, and it represents the grotesque theft of a word and its cynical appropriation.
This week, Ron Dermer, the former Israeli minister and one of Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confidants, hit back with a word of his own. In a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition summit, he took the charge apart, concluding that we have seen nothing but a "fake-ocide". These are familiar arguments to many readers, but Dermer's pithy and insightful presentation rewards further attention.
It should go without saying that the suffering in Gaza – for which Hamas bears ultimate responsibility – has been immense. But the suffering of war is not in itself proof of genocide, which has a specific meaning in international law. Moreover, given the circumstances in which the war arose, the defensive campaign, as desperate and messy as it was, is evidence of the evils of Hamas, not the other side.
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.