Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party ignited a political firestorm on Thursday after declaring in a radio interview that "the government is racing toward erasing Gaza. Thank God we are erasing this evil. All of Gaza will be Jewish."
Eliyahu, who previously faced international backlash early in the war for suggesting a nuclear strike on Gaza was not off the table, also addressed allegations that Israel is starving the population in the enclave.
“These sick people like Yair Golan and [former Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert, who have lost their identity and support for the Jewish people—they support and embrace the Nazis and hate their own brothers,” he said. “This is the madness we must confront.”
He continued: “We shouldn’t be dealing with hunger in Gaza—let the world take care of them. No nation feeds its enemies. Have we completely lost our minds? Should we care about their evening meal? That’s absolute insanity. They’re strengthening Hamas and giving it power. Are we supposed to pity these bastards? There is no hunger in Gaza.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned Eliyahu’s comments, saying: “His words are a moral attack and a hasbara disaster. Israel will never convince the world of the justice of our war against terrorism as long as an extremist minority government leads us with ministers who glorify death and bloodshed. IDF soldiers do not fight, die, and get injured to wipe out civilian populations. They fight to bring the hostages home and ensure Israel’s security.”
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The protest group “Brothers and Sisters in Arms” also lashed out at the minister: “This is what a minister in Israel’s government sounds like—no morality, no purity of arms, no shame. A country whose soldiers are dying and collapsing under the burden of reserve duty is being run by extremist ideologues who have no limits. The cost of war means nothing to them. All they know how to do is incite, abandon, and do everything possible to make the world think we are committing war crimes. The draft-dodgers’ alliance has never been more destructive.”
Efrat Rayten, a lawmaker for the Labor-Democrats faction, added: “A sitting minister is openly calling for serious war crimes. He’s not an opposition figure, not a private citizen, not a social media pundit. He is a central cog in the executive branch. Eliyahu is a dangerous man, and I demand that the government issue an unequivocal condemnation of his remarks. His statements are abhorrent and repugnant, and we will not agree to pay the price for the crimes of this terrible government.”