Social media was full of posts ridiculing Netanyahu for accusing the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (in office from 1921 until 1937) of persuading Adolf Hitler to “burn the Jews.ˮ Examples of such ironic posts included blaming the Palestinians for the extinction of the dinosaurs and for the sinking of the Titanic, and accusing the Mufti of convincing the pharaoh of Egypt to enslave the Hebrews and enticing Eve into eating the apple. One post even blamed the Palestinians for eating his homework! The only one I haven’t read is Netanyahu blaming the Palestinians for causing the Big Bang.

German officials along with practically all credible historians refuted the claim. The chief historian of Yad Vashem commented that it is “completely erroneous, on all counts.” To put the lid on the topic, the transcripts of the infamous 1941 meeting between the Mufti and Hitler proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Netanyahu’s claim is false. The only confirmation of Netanyahu’s claim came from the American Nazi party.

Netanyahuʼs fabricated allegations to defame the Palestinians was a faux pas that backlashed. To some observers, his revisionist history, did not only further undermine the prime minister’s international credibility, but was also a betrayal of his own father who was a renowned historian. More ominously, the claim is symptomatic of neurotic hysteric behavior, in the Freudian sense. This is a cause of grave concern since his warped perspective of reality mirrors and further incites similar emotions from the Israeli population overall. The politics of hatred and fear has finally triumphed, and we all are suffering its ugly consequences.

Any follower of Israeli social and regular media is sure to conclude that Israelis predominantly believe that recent Palestinian attacks on Israelis are a result of endemic ethnic hatred towards Jews. This message is made clear daily, from the average Israeli on the street to the top political echelon. Naturally, Palestinians dismiss this as rubbish; however, it is unfortunate that many Palestinians today see every Israeli as an embodiment of injustice. This again is the result of the policy of hate and fear that Netanyahu and his right-wing government have launched. Contrary to claims of Palestinian incitement, responsible local politicians and activists have strongly advised against getting involved in such a vicious cycle of hate and violence. Regarding the Israeli systemic demonization and dehumanization of Palestinians, Sam Bahour wrote, “To cover up its crimes, Israel needs to feed all the western stereotypes of Palestinians as violent and subhuman rather than hungry for freedom and equal rights.” Saed Karzoun, a social activist, wrote “I fear that the notion of occupation will be soon erased from the western mind and will be replaced by the slogan ʻPalestinians hate the Jews.ʼ ” Palestinian perception today is that Netanyahuʼs ploy to accuse the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and by extension the Palestinians, of the holocaust is another chapter in the Israeli strategy to defame, discredit, and isolate the Palestinians under occupation by dressing the victim in the role of the wolf.