Why Was The Greatest Insult Toward An Israelite To Be Referred To As A "friend Of Amalek"?

In the Old Testament, Amalek was a grandson of Esau (brother and enemy of the Biblical patriarch Jacob) and said to be the ancestor of the tribe of Amalekites. These people are described in Exodus as attcking the Israelites from the rear, as they travelled towards the promised land after their escape from Egypt.

From then on, the Amelekites were the historic enemies of the Israelites. In Exodus, they are identified as the enemy, and in Deuteronomy there is a command to the Jews to crush or obliterate them.

Even now on the feast of Purim (which celebrates the day Esther, in the book of that name, managed to get her husband King Ahaseurus of Persia to spare the Jews) the name of Amalek is invoked and the command repeated.

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