In a response to recent remarks made by an ultra-right Israeli minister, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has denounced the statement as a disturbing display of extremism and deviation among some decision-makers in the Israeli government.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing deep concern and condemnation regarding the call to “drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip.” This alarming statement, the ministry argues, highlights the dangerous and extreme views held by certain individuals within the Israeli government.
“It is the international community’s responsibility to firmly confront this discourse of violence, hatred, and racism,” said Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid in a short statement on Sunday.
“While the world discusses nuclear disarmament and its dangers, some seem eager for more destruction and death,” added Abu Zeid.
Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu said in a radio interview that he was not entirely satisfied with the scale of Israel’s operation in Gaza.
When asked whether he advocated dropping “some kind of atomic bomb on Gaza to kill everyone”, Eliyahu replied: “That’s one option.”
Israel’s government on Sunday reprimanded the ultranationalist junior minister, labeling his comments “disconnected from reality”.
Eliyahu was also suspended from government meetings “until further notice”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Eliyahu’s statement drew huge condemnation regionally, including from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia criticized Netanyahu’s government for not dismissing him.
“Failing to immediately dismiss the minister from the government and simply freezing his membership reflects the height of disdain for all human, moral, religious, and legal standards and values of the Israeli government,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
Jordan said the minister’s remarks “were a call for genocide and a hate crime against the Palestinians.”
