Amalek was an ancient tribe that Deuteronomy called the Israelites to exterminate. So Benjamin Netanyahu probably shouldn’t have invoked Amalek in his speech about fighting Hamas this weekend. Yet critics who understand Mr. Netanyahu to be calling for genocide commit a serious error.

“Amalek” is commonly used to refer to the Nazis or others intent on exterminating the Jews—in this case Hamas. Mr. Netanyahu’s speech repeatedly referred to eradicating Hamas specifically, and the Israel Defense Force warn civilians before attacking Hamas targets and tries to avoid innocent collateral damage.