“Suspended” until further notice
Netanyahu gives minister time off after atomic bomb statement
November 5th, 2023, 2:48 p.m
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In a radio interview, an Israeli minister goes so far as to say that the use of nuclear weapons against Hamas is an option. He is also thinking aloud about sacrificing the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Netanyahu has stuck by him so far, but has given him a lesson.
A minister in the ultra-right Israeli government has been sanctioned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for statements about the possible use of a nuclear bomb in the Gaza Strip. Cultural Heritage Minister Amichai Elijahu will be excluded from all cabinet meetings “until further notice,” Netanyahu’s office said. Netanyahu was quoted as saying that Elijahu’s comments “did not correspond to reality.”
Elijahu described the use of a nuclear bomb in the war against the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas as “an option” in an interview with the radio station Kol Barama. According to his office, Netanyahu then emphasized that Israel and its armed forces were acting “in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocent people.” Israel will “continue to do this until we win,” the head of government was quoted as saying.
In the interview, the ultranationalist minister also suggested that Israel should sacrifice the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “In war we pay a price,” said Elijahu in response to an interviewer’s question about the fate of the hostages in the event of a nuclear bomb being dropped.
Elijahu speaks of a “metaphorical” statement
A forum representing the relatives of those kidnapped and missing in the Gaza Strip described Elijahu’s comments as “reckless and cruel.” The forum explained that not only international law, but also “principles of human morality” speak strictly against the use of “weapons of mass destruction.”
Elijahu responded to the outrage by saying his statement about the atomic bomb was meant “metaphorically.” 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 International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm (Sipri) estimates that Israel has 90 nuclear warheads.
Hundreds of Hamas fighters attacked Israel a week ago and, according to Israeli figures, murdered around 1,400 people, most of them civilians. In addition, according to information, more than 240 other people were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive attacks in the densely populated Palestinian territory.