Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu from Otzma Yehudit was suspended on Sunday from government meetings after he said dropping an atom bomb on Gaza is an option in an interview with Kol Baram on Sunday morning.
The statement was made regarding his discussion of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“We wouldn’t have given the Nazis humanitarian aid,” he said. “There’s no such thing as innocents in Gaza.”
When the interviewer asked whether Israel should just drop an atomic bomb on the Strip, Eliyahu replied that that was an option. Upon being reminded of the more than 240 hostages being held in Gaza, he said he would pray for their return but that “there is also a price to war.”
Only two days earlier, Eliyahu had tweeted about destroying an entire city, comparing it to Sodom and Gamora.
“God taught Abraham that even though the people of Sodom were evil and sinners, the decision to obliterate them was made after they heard the screams of a girl being raped and didn’t act mercifully,” he wrote. “There is patience for evil that at some point needs to stop.”
Comment is universally condemned
Eliyahu’s comment was heavily criticized throughout the government.
“Minister Amichai Eliyahu’s comments are disconnected from reality,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Israel and the IDF function according to the highest standards of international law in order to prevent harming innocents, and we will continue to do so until victory.”
Netanyahu later announced that Eliyahu would be suspended from all government meetings until further notice but did not respond to a request for comment on whether he would consider firing him.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant condemned Eliyahu’s “baseless comments,” adding that “it’s good that he isn’t the person in charge of Israel’s security.”
“Minister Eliyahu’s unthinking, unnecessary, and irresponsible comment harms Israel’s values, causes heavy damage to diplomacy, and worst of all, adds to the pain of the hostages’ families,” said National Unity leader Minister Benny Gantz.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said it was a shocking and crazy comment from an irresponsible minister.
“He caused harm to the families of the hostages, Israeli society, and our international standing,” he said. “The presence of extremists in the government endangers us and our success in the war’s objectives – victory over Hamas and the return of the hostages.”
He also called for Netanyahu to fire Eliyahu.
Labor leader Merav Michaeli said the heritage minister had to be distanced from politics, saying he was “a danger to the State of Israel.”
Condemnations and calls to fire Eliyahu also came from outside the government including from the Brothers in Arms protest group.
“If Netanyahu and Gantz want to preserve the relative national consensus that exists these days and our relations with the rest of the world, they must fire Minister Amichai Eliyahu now,” said the group.
Eliyahu later clarified that it should be clear to sensible people that the comment about an atom bomb was only metaphorical.
“But we still definitely need a powerful and unproportional response to terrorism that will make it clear to the Nazis and their supporters that terrorism is not worthwhile,” he said. “This is the only formula that democratic states can use to deal with terrorism. At the same time, it is clear that the State of Israel is committed to doing everything possible to return the hostages safe and sound.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads Otzma Yehudit, said that he also believed the comment was metaphor.
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