The Israeli government clearly distanced itself from statements made by a right-wing extremist minister regarding actions in the Gaza Strip. Cultural Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu responded on Sunday when asked during a radio interview whether a nuclear bomb should be dropped on the Gaza Strip: “That is one of the options.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as head of the ultra-right government, then said that Eliyahu’s statements had “no basis in reality.”
According to media reports, Netanyahu suspended the minister from cabinet meetings until further notice. However, it was unclear whether he was also considering dismissal. Israel and the army acted “in accordance with the highest standards of international law to prevent harm to civilians,” Netanyahu said. This will continue to be done “until our victory” against the Islamic Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Joav Galant also condemned Eliyahu’s “unfounded and irresponsible statements.” “It’s a good thing these are not the people responsible for Israel’s security,” he wrote in an X-Post. Eliyahu, from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, is not part of the Israeli security cabinet or Netanyahu’s war cabinet and is not considered influential.
Eliyahu also spoke out against the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip during an interview with Kol Barama radio station. “We also wouldn’t give humanitarian aid to the Nazis,” he said. There are no innocent civilians on the coastal strip; the population supports Hamas. He has spoken out in favor of recapturing the area evacuated in 2005 and returning Israeli settlements. When asked about the fate of the Palestinian population, he said: “You can go to Ireland or the desert, the monsters of Gaza should find a solution themselves.”
In the interview, the ultranationalist minister also suggested that Israel sacrifice the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “In war we pay a price,” Eliyahu said in response to an interviewer’s question about the fate of hostages if a nuclear bomb is dropped.
A forum representing families of those kidnapped and missing in the Gaza Strip described Eliyahu’s comments as “reckless and cruel”. The forum explained that not only international law but also the “principles of human morality” speak strictly against the use of “weapons of mass destruction.”
Saudi Arabia harshly criticized Eliyahu’s statement and called for his immediate dismissal. This shows how widespread extremism and brutality are in some parts of the Israeli government, the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh said on Sunday. The fact that Eliyahu is not released with immediate effect demonstrates the Israeli government’s disregard for “all human, moral, religious and legal standards and values.”
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke of “racist and provocative statements”. It was a “call for genocide and a hate crime that should not be tolerated, as well as an incitement to murder and war crimes that should be condemned,” he said.
Eliyahu responded to the outrage by saying that his statement about the atomic bomb had a “metaphorical” meaning. Israel is committed to “doing everything in its power to bring the hostages home safely.”
Israel has never officially confirmed its possession of nuclear weapons. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that Israel has 90 nuclear warheads.
Hundreds of Hamas fighters attacked Israel a week ago and, according to Israeli data, murdered around 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Additionally, more than 240 other people were reportedly kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive attacks on the densely populated Palestinian territory. According to the latest information from Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, 9,770 people had been killed as of Sunday.