IDF forces operating in Gaza (IDF)
Amihai Eliyahu, the Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister of Israel caused a political firestorm by suggesting that Israel should just drop nuclear bombs on Gaza. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the comments. Eliyahu is a member of the right-wing Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) Party.
In an interview with an Israeli radio station, Amihai Eliyahu was asked about using nuclear weapons on Gaza during Israel’s “Iron Swords” War against the Hamas terrorist organization based there. To this he responded, “This is one of the possibilities.”
Putting aside the ethics, and the inhumane nature of such an act, it seems that Amihai Eliyahu needs a lesson in how nuclear weapons work. Obviously, a nuclear explosion anywhere in Gaza would cause radioactive fallout to hit everywhere in Israel that is anywhere near the Gaza Strip, including all of the towns devastated in the barbaric Hamas attack of October 7.
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The radiation would also spread up the coastline of Israel and irradiate Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Tel Aviv and even go as far as Haifa. Also, radiation would go out into the Mediterranean as far as Cyprus and even Greece.
Then there is also the issue of what would happen to the more than 240 Israelis now being held hostage in Gaza.
When this was pointed out to him, Amihai Eliyahu said, “I pray and hope for their return, but there are also prices in war. In Gaza, we have to beg for the return of the abductees. In war, prices are paid. Why are the lives of the abductees, that I really want them to be released, more important than the lives of the soldiers and the people who will be murdered later?”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the remarks. “The words of Minister Amihai Eliyahu are disconnected from reality. Israel and the IDF are acting according to the highest standards of international law in order to prevent harm to the non-involved, and we will continue to do so until victory,” he said.
The backlash forced Amihai Eliyahu to issue an explanation for his comments.
“It is clear to anyone with an understanding that the statement about an atom is metaphorical,” he said on Twitter. “But we definitely need a powerful and disproportionate response to terrorism, which will make it clear to the Nazis and their supporters that terrorism is not worthwhile. This is the only formula that democratic countries can use to deal with terrorism. At the same time, it is clear that the State of Israel is obligated to do everything to return the abductees safe and sound.”
