Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu of Israel has been indefinitely suspended from his official duties following his controversial suggestion to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza. This was announced by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
The suspension came shortly after Minister Eliyahu, a known ultranationalist within Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, expressed dissatisfaction with Israel’s response to an October 7th attack by Hamas, which resulted in 1,400 deaths, predominantly among civilians according to Israeli figures.
In an interview with Kol Barama radio, when asked if he supported the idea of using a nuclear weapon against Gaza, the Heritage Minister indicated that it was a possibility. This prompted immediate backlash from various quarters.
The Prime Minister’s office condemned Eliyahu’s remarks, characterizing them as “disconnected from reality” and reiterated Israel’s intention to avoid harming non-combatants in its military responses.
Following the uproar, Minister Eliyahu took to social media to retract his statement, claiming his comment was intended to be “metaphorical”. The statement came amid tense scrutiny, as Israel has never officially acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons.