Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel took the highly unusual step on Sunday of suspending a far-right minister from his government, after the minister said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza and killing everyone there was “one way” of dealing with the threat from Hamas.
Mr. Netanyahu’s swift action came amid an immediate and broad outcry over the comments made on Sunday morning by Amichay Eliyahu, the minister of heritage from the ultranationalist Jewish Power party.
In his remarks, made to a Hebrew radio station, Mr. Eliyahu also said that there was no such thing as noncombatants in Gaza.
While the Jewish Power Party is a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government, Mr. Eliyahu is not a member of the war cabinet prosecuting Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.
Still, his abrupt suspension appeared to reflect Mr. Netanyahu’s concerns both over the low levels of public confidence in his leadership, as shown by recent opinion polls, and the challenges Israel faces in maintaining international support amid its assault in Gaza, particularly given the high civilian death toll there.
Persons:
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Amichay Eliyahu, Eliyahu
Organizations:
Jewish Power, Jewish Power Party
Locations:
Gaza