Paul Adams

A junior minister in the Israeli government has been suspended from all government meetings until further notice after he suggested that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was “one of the possibilities”.

Amihai Eliyahu, who is the country’s heritage minister, made the comment in an interview with an ultra-orthodox radio station, Kol Beramah.

He said there were “no non-combatants in Gaza” and that providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians would represent “a failure”.

Asked if that meant that using nuclear weapons might be justified, the minister did not rule it out.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to respond, saying the remarks were “divorced from reality”.

On the face of it, the views of a marginal figure in Netanyahu’s cabinet shouldn’t carry much weight.

Eliyahu, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, plays no role in the conduct of the war in Gaza.

But at a time when Israel’s conduct of the war is under intense international scrutiny, to have a cabinet member openly contemplating the use of nuclear weapons is clearly an embarrassment.

The government’s critics say the presence of right-wing firebrands in the government is deeply alarming.

Merav Michaeli, chair of the opposition Labour Party, said people like Mr Eliyahu “need to be kept very far away from the decision-making process”.

Israel is thought to have scores, perhaps hundreds of nuclear weapons, but has never openly acknowledged having a military nuclear programme.

Source: BBC