1 year ago
175
JERUSALEM: PM
Netanyahu
disciplined on Sunday a junior member of his cabinet who appeared to voice openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the minister concerned - heritage minister Amihay Eliyahu from a far-right party in the coalition government - had been suspended from cabinet meetings "until further notice".
Asked in a radio interview about a hypothetical
nuclear option
, Eliyahu replied: "That's one way." His remark made headlines in Arab media and scandalised mainstream Israeli broadcasters.
Neither Eliyahu or his party leader are in the streamlined ministerial forum running the Gaza war. Neither would they have inside knowledge of Israel's nuclear capabilities - which it does not publicly acknowledge - or the power to activate them.
"Eliyahu's statements are not based in reality. Israel and the IDF (military) are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law," Netanyahu's office said. A spokesman for Hamas said Eliyahu represented the "unprecedented criminal Israeli terrorism (that) constitutes a danger to the entire region and the world".
English (US)