The Arab world has condemned extremist statements made by Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu who appeared to voice openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza.
In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry said not dismissing the minister from the government immediately and merely freezing his membership reflects the height of disdain for all human, moral, religious, and legal standards and values of the Israeli government.
The Arab League said in a statement: “The racist statements of Israeli Minister Eliyahu are revealing. Not only does he admit that they possess a nuclear weapon, but he also confirms the reality of the Israelis’ abhorrent racist view towards the Palestinian people.”
“These statements reveal the true face of the occupation government and everyone who defends it in the West,” Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit added.
The Jordanian foreign ministry considered the statements a call for genocide and a hate crime that cannot be tolerated. It reiterated that the statements are a condemnable incitement to murder and committing more war crimes against the people of the Gaza Strip.
Such statements represent a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a dangerous escalation that requires the international community to act immediately to address them, the statement said.
It stressed that the international community must confront hate speech through effective steps that would oblige Israel to stop its continuing attacks on the Palestinian people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Palestine’s Foreign Ministry said these remarks are a translation of the genocidal war that Israel has been waging against the Gaza Strip for 30 days.
In a radio interview, Eliyahu said that “one of Israel’s options in the war in Gaza is to drop a nuclear bomb on the strip.” He also voiced his objection to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza.
After the remarks, Eliyahu was suspended from government meetings indefinitely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, adding that his statements “are not based in reality”.
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