Why do Israel's high-tech, dystopian weapons systems have Biblical names?

While the Israeli military’s staggering scale of devastation and disproportionality in Gaza is shocking and has been extensively condemned internationally, one aspect is little discussed, namely the politics of naming Israel's high-tech weapons systems and the nomenclature of its military operations.

Even in the case of Israel's dystopian AI systems, what is the rationale behind names like 'Lavender' and 'The Gospel'? Are they symbolically significant?

In truth, ‘Lavender’ has biblical roots as one of the holy herbs used to create the Holy Essence and Nard. It is mentioned in the Song of Solomon.

Additionally, the herb lavender is native to the country, but many lavender-growing regions have reduced in area likely due to Israeli settlement construction. Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that the names may have been chosen to convey specific narratives about the weapons’ intentions. 

Moreover, ‘Lavender’ originates from the Latin word ‘lavare’, meaning ‘to wash’. Could these names therefore suggest a symbolic purging of Palestinians from Gaza, akin to a ritualistic pursuit of religious duty?

Religious symbolism is not new to the Israeli state: the most obvious example is the Star of David featured on the Israeli flag, while the seal of Israel features a Knesset menorah.

Zionism, a movement for the establishment and protection of the state of Israel, also heavily features symbolism.

The politics of naming may have also been pursued with consideration for the potential psychological impact on both operators and targets of the AI weapons.

‘The Gospel’ could instil a sense of righteousness or confidence in operators, many of whom knew they were going to kill civilians while attempting to target Hamas operatives, sometimes over one hundred of them in a single strike. 

Perhaps this is also for the benefit of Jewish people around the world, the key demographic Zionism seeks to reruit to its settler-colonial cause.

Nearly half of all Israeli military operations over its 75-year history have Biblical roots, according to Dalia Gavriely-Nuri, a researcher at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, who has researched the propensity the Israeli army has for giving military offensives Biblical symbolism.

As for military systems, Israel has historically infused the names of its deadliest weapons with Biblical roots. For instance, the Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station, also known as Katlanit ('lethal' in Hebrew), is inspired by the story of Samson, the first suicide kamikaze in history. Samson destroyed the temple with hundreds of Philistines inside, killing himself in the process.

Similarly, Jericho ballistic missiles, developed since the 1960s, are named after the city conquered by Israelites from the Philistines around 1400 B.C.

Another weapon, David's Sling, named after David's victory over Goliath, portrays Israel as an underdog facing a stronger enemy. This messaging suggests that using lethal force against Palestinians is not only justified but also approved by God, possibly to appeal to religious conservatives, especially in the United States.

Furthermore, ‘Where’s Daddy?’ may have been coined to induce paranoia in the targets being tracked. Most of the time, the system targets alleged junior Hamas operatives at night while at home with their families: in the first month of the war, more than half of the fatalities - 6120 people - belonged to 1340 families, most of whom were completely wiped out while inside their own homes.

Israel’s naming strategy also appears to aim to conceal the true nature and impact of the AI weapons, employing benign and religious terms to mask their sinister consequences, potentially to minimise public scrutiny or opposition to their deployment.

Such an approach aligns with the use of seemingly innocuous tools like Meta’s WhatsApp to track suspected militants in Gaza, processing up to 37,000 unaware Palestinians.

Employing stealth seems to be an oft-used tactic by the Israeli army, the self-styled Israeli Defence Forces [IDF]. According to a Geneva-based rights organisation, it allegedly employs sound as a weapon to terrorise Gaza residents, broadcasting harrowing screams and desperate cries broadcasted from Israeli quadcopter drones hovering unseen in the night. Residents who investigate are reportedly shot and killed by the drones.

"By using names coming from nature and the Bible,"  wrote Dalia Gavriely-Nuri in her 2010 paper Rainbow, Snow, and the Poplar’s Song: The ‘‘Annihilative Naming’’ of Israeli Military Practices, "the Israeli military uses three strategies—naturalization, euphemization, and legitimation—that mediate Israeli public opinion toward controversial military operations as well as weaponry development".

Ravale Mohydin is a researcher at TRT World Research Centre. With graduate degrees from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, her research interests include the political economy of media, strategic communications, public diplomacy, political effects of entertainment media, conflict media coverage as well as South Asian politics and society.

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