The fiery political debate over the war between Israel and Hamas is producing some unexpected heroes. Comedian Jon Lovitz — originator of the beloved Saturday Night Live character Hanukkah Harry — has stepped into the fray, pushing back against charges of genocide against Israel. Lovitz made the case succinctly in a heated debate on X: “It’s not genocide.. it’s war. A war Hamas deliberately started. Knowing Israel would retaliate and knowing innocent Palestinian civilians would be killed.”

True on all counts. And it’s worth emphasizing that only the terrorists benefit from innocent Palestinians dying. Israel attempts to avoid civilian casualties, whereas Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields. If the terrorists really cared about preserving the lives of Palestinian people, they would come out of their bunkers with their hands up. Hamas could end the death and destruction today if it simply surrendered.

Unfortunately, Hamas leaders seem determined to fight to the last Palestinian, making it easier for Hamas sympathizers to deploy the word “genocide” against Israel. The expression is highly evocative, inspires strong emotion, and implies unwarranted suffering and extreme victimization. The word also strikes at the legitimacy of the Jewish state, which was founded in the wake of an actual genocide, the Holocaust. To this end, Hamas supporters regularly claim that the Israelis are “worse than the Nazis.”

The genocide narrative also gives Hamas backers the means to engage in lawfare, such as the bizarre suit filed in federal court against the Biden administration for “failure to prevent genocide.” This case is doomed to fail for several reasons, but it demonstrates the multiple lines of attack anti-Israel groups are pursuing to stop the war. Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the White House, chanting, “Biden Biden you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” based on the usual activist logic that, if you can make it rhyme, it must be true.

Yet the focus on genocide also illustrates the progressive practice of accusing the other side of the crimes they themselves are committing. If anyone is genocidal, it is Hamas. Let’s look at the evidence:

Hamas allowed no Israelis to live in Gaza, at the risk of their lives; but Palestinians make up around 20 percent of Israel’s population.

Hamas employs torture, rape, and murder as a matter of policy and practice; Israel does not.

Hamas takes innocent people hostage; Israel does not.

Hamas seeks to maximize the civilian casualties of both Israelis and Palestinians as a central part of their terror strategy; Israel endeavors to minimize the deaths of innocents on both sides. 

Hamas engages in indiscriminate attacks on cities targeting civilians, such as with rockets and mortars; Israel uses precision strikes aimed at military targets.

Hamas gave no warning of incoming attacks to Israeli noncombatants before the Oct. 7 massacre; Israel warns Palestinian civilians to evacuate specific combat zones in Gaza to avoid being caught in the crossfire. 

Hamas gave no humanitarian pauses during “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” for civilians to evacuate along secure corridors; Israel has taken these humanitarian steps in Gaza.

Hamas is a listed foreign terrorist organization that violates all customary standards of international law and laws of war. Israel is a recognized sovereign state and signatory to the laws of war and enforces all customary legal standards.

Hamas uses hospitals and schools as headquarters, arm depots, and covers for its underground networks. Israel does none of these things.

Hamas indiscriminately bombed Israeli hospitals and specifically attacked ambulances on Oct. 7 to prevent emergency responders from evacuating casualties. To the extent Israel has ever struck such targets it was because they were being used illegally for military purposes.

Hamas’ stated goal is to expel Jews from Israel and erect a Shariah-based autocracy; Israel is an ethnically and religiously diverse Western-style democracy.

This last point is critical for understanding how the word “genocide” accurately describes Hamas and its program. It goes to the question of intent. Hamas seeks to create a Jew-free zone in the Middle East. Ethnic cleansing is its stated mission. “From the river to the sea” is one of the many current dog-whistle calls for genocide you can hear chanted in the Middle East, in European cities, or on American college campuses. Those most fervently accusing Israel of genocide are the ones who would wipe out the Jewish people if they could. (RELATED: Harvard President Faces Uproar Over Refusal to Punish Students for ‘Intifada’ Chants)

Meanwhile, Israel has made it clear that its current conflict is not with the Palestinian people but with Hamas, and with other violent terrorist groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. Israelis would be more than happy to live side-by-side with Palestinians in peace. That in no way speaks to genocidal intent.

Entering the Hanukkah season, a holiday commemorating Jewish resistance to invasion over 2,000 years ago, it is well and fitting that menorahs are being erected in Gaza to mark the occasion. The message to Hamas is the same as the message from the Maccabees to the Seleucid Empire — the people of Israel live, despite the best efforts of terrorists to the contrary. And IDF troops can rest easy knowing that Hanukkah Harry has their back.