Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip began, continued and is ending on a lie. The chief liar and man responsible for the disproportionate use of Israeli firepower that has resulted in nearly 2,000 Palestinian deaths — mostly civilians — versus three Israeli civilians, is none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While the war in Gaza began on June 29, the incitement for the war began when Israel’s prime minister irresponsibly accused the Gaza-based Islamic Hamas movement of being responsible for what was declared a kidnapping of three Israelis. The three were apparently hitchhiking in areas under Israeli military control in the West Bank on June 12 when they were taken by yet to be identified kidnappers and apparently killed shortly thereafter. One of the three Israelis called the police and the sound of gunfire is heard on the phone call. Netanyahu immediately placed a gag order on the deaths.

Writing in the Jewish Daily Forward, J.J. Goldberg talks about how “politics and lies” triggered the war in Gaza. “Journalists who heard rumors [about the emergency call] were told the Shin Bet wanted the gag order to aid the search. For public consumption, the official word was that Israel was 'acting on the assumption that they’re alive.' It was, simply put, a lie,” Goldberg wrote.

Two weeks after the kidnapping and plenty of anti-Hamas rhetoric later, the war on Gaza began based on a falsification of the reality. After arresting hundreds of Palestinians and daily shellings of Gaza, the situation escalated on June 29 when an Israeli attack caused the death of a Palestinian in Gaza. The following day, Hamas, after being silent since the November 2012 cease-fire, responded with a barrage of rockets. Israel jumped on this act, making it the justification for war. Nothing is said anymore about the preceding days of consecutive shelling that had been based on a lie that Gaza’s Hamas leadership had ordered the kidnapping and killing of the three Israelis.