New Delhi: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu Sunday from attending any government meetings until further notice, after the minister suggested that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza is “one of the possibilities”.
The statement was reportedly made by the minister on the radio show Radio Kol Berama Sunday.
Responding to Eliyahu’s comments, Netanyahu stated on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), “Minister Amihai Eliyahu’s statements are not based in reality. Israel and the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Minister Amihai Eliyahu's statements are not based in reality. Israel and the IDF are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents. We will continue to do so until our victory.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 5, 2023
The far-right minister reportedly said on the radio show that “there are no non-combatants in Gaza”, adding that providing humanitarian aid to the Strip would constitute “a failure”.
Eliyahu, an Israeli politician from Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, has been serving as a minister since 2022. He is not a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet and therefore, holds no power over decision-making regarding the conflict with Hamas.
Speaking on the radio show, the minister reportedly criticised allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying, “We wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid,” adding that there are no “uninvolved civilians” in the region.
Eliyahu also reportedly supported re-establishing Israeli control over the Gaza Strip and creating settlements. On the future of the Palestinian population residing in the region, he said, “They can go to Ireland or deserts, the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves.”
According to media reports, the minister said the northern Strip has no right to exist, adding that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag “shouldn’t continue living on the face of the earth”.
Eliyahu’s statements have drawn criticism both from members of the government and the Opposition, with some calling for his removal.
Also read: Harvard donors pull out, Columbia students lose job offers — top US colleges in Israel-Palestine fix
Reactions to Eliyahu’s comments
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, one of the war cabinet members, condemned Eliyahu statements, calling them ‘baseless and irresponsible’, adding, “It’s good that these are not the people in charge of Israel’s security,” in his tweet on X.
מגנה את דבריו חסרי הבסיס והאחריות של השר עמיחי אליהו.
טוב שלא אלו האנשים המופקדים על ביטחון ישראל.
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) November 5, 2023
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has called for Eliyahu’s removal, saying, “The presence of the extremists in the government endangers us and the success of the war goals — the victory of Hamas and the return of the kidnapped. Netanyahu must fire him this morning.”
In contrast, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, said he spoke to the minister who clarified that he was talking “metaphorically”.
In roughly a month since the 7 October Hamas attacks in Israel, more than 1,400 Israeli and 9,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the violence between the Israel Defence Forces and Hamas militants. Numerous international organisations including the United Nations General Assembly have called for a ceasefire and an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce”.
Several countries have severed ties with Israel over the past month, including Bolivia while Colombia and Chile have recalled their ambassadors. Bahrain, last week, became one of the first Abraham Accord signatories to freeze ties with Israel.
A week after the 7 October attacks, Netanyahu and opposition alliance National Unity leader Benny Gantz formed a temporary five-member war cabinet & a ‘unity government’ to make crucial decisions regarding war operations, orders for the military actions, exit strategies and more.
One of the many reasons for the formation of the war cabinet was to reduce the role of Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious allies and instead include members with extensive military backgrounds.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read: EU holds emergency meeting in a bid for ‘unity’ amid deep divisions over Israel-Hamas war