GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 30
Wild Talk Abounds

Nukes Are On The Table?

In a radio interview, a member of a strong military leaning part told the interview that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was one of Israel’s options. The comment itself became radioactive politically as this quote from The Times Of Israel notes (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-minister-says-nuking-gaza-an-option-pm-suspends-him-from-cabinet-meetings/) :

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said Sunday that one of Israel’s options in the war against Hamas could be to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip, in comments that were quickly disavowed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also suspended the minister from cabinet meetings.

Eliyahu, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, was speaking in an answer to a question in a radio interview.

“Your expectation is that tomorrow morning we’d drop what amounts to some kind a nuclear bomb on all of Gaza, flattening them, eliminating everybody there…,” the Radio Kol Berama interviewer said.

“That’s one way,” Eliyahu responded. “The second way is to work out what’s important to them, what scares them, what deters them… They’re not scared of death.”

As we see, this official didn’t bring up the idea, but certainly didn’t appear to bat an eye at the option.

Releasing Hostages Shouldn’t Be More Important Then Soldiers

As if Eliyahu wasn’t already in hot water suggesting dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza wasn’t controversial enough, he then said this in the same article about prioritizing releasing hostages:

When it was pointed out to the minister that there are some 240 hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip, Eliyahu doubled down.

“I pray and hope for their return, but there is a price to be paid in war,” he said. “Why are the lives of the abductees, whose release I really want, more important than the lives of the soldiers and the people who will be murdered later?”

Offering humanitarian aid to Gaza wasn’t high on his list of things to do:

Eliyahu also voiced objection to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying, “we wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid,” and charging that “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.”

Israel Should Retake Gaza

I guess if you’re putting your foot in your mouth, you might as well push it in all the way. And yet, Eliyahu had this to say about the post war Gaza strategy, again, from the same Times Of Israel article:

He also backed retaking the Strip and rebuilding the Israeli settlements that existed there before Israel withdrew from the area unilaterally in 2005, and when asked about the fate of the Palestinian population, he said: “They can go to Ireland or deserts; the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves.”

Eliyahu also said the northern part of the Strip has no right to exist, adding that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag “shouldn’t continue to live on the face of the earth.

As we would expect, Israels leadership was quick to respond to these wild words as seen in these words from The Times report:

Netanyahu was quick to reject Eliyahu’s claim that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was a possibility.

“Amichai Eliyahu’s words are detached from reality,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Israel and the IDF are acting in accordance with the highest standards of international law in order to prevent harm to uninvolved people, and we will continue to do that all the way to victory.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also condemned the “baseless and irresponsible” remarks in a post on X, adding he was glad “these are not the people in charge of Israel’s security.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to fire Eliyahu, branding his comments “a horrifying and insane remark by an irresponsible minister.”

Lapid summed up how some people viewed the comments this way:

“He offended the families of the captives [being held in Gaza], offended Israeli society and harmed our international standing,” Lapid said. “The presence of the extremists in the government endangers us and the success of the war goals — defeating Hamas and returning the hostages.

“Netanyahu must fire him this morning,” the opposition leader said.

Not The Only One

Lest we think that Eliyahu is alone in his assertion that Israel take control of Gaza after defeating Hamas, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had this to say from the same Times Of Israel article:

Meanwhile, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asserted Saturday that Israel “will control Gaza after the war.”

“I will not invest a shekel in shielding the Gaza border area,” said Smotrich, implying that it will not be necessary after the conclusion of the war.

“The most important thing is that there will be no more Hamas, that the Strip will be under the operational control of the IDF for years, and that we will not return to the same misconceptions,” he told Channel 12. “We will be there, we will rule there and we will maintain security.”

While I understand Netanyahu, Gallant, Gantz, and others having to publicly denounce these comments as they are dealing with pressure from the United States to do things their way and of course knowing that military support as well as financial help are important to their cause. However, apart from the nuking Gaza and maybe the hostage issue being higher than soldiers fighting the war, I can totally see why taking control of Gaza is necessary given the way terrorists like Hamas are always looking for ways to regroup and fight another day. If ending the constant threat of terrorism is the goal, then letting Palestinians control the area again isn’t a good option, no matter how nice it may look on paper.

Nothing Seems To Change

Since the United States keeps pushing the option of handing over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority (PA) after Hamas is defeated, the PA’s President Mahmoud Abbas is adding his own conditions on what else needs to be done, and of course dividing Jerusalem is one of them. Here is are what Abbas calls a “comprehensive political solution” in a report from i24news.tv (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/palestinian-territories/1699189071-abbas-pa-s-return-to-gaza-depends-on-comprehensive-solution-to-conflict) :

The Palestinian leader stated, "We will fully assume our responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip," according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The meeting between Blinken and Abbas also focused on the urgent need to address extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. As the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza continues to escalate, the West Bank has experienced a surge in violence, making it an immediate concern.

Abbas also took the moment to condemn Israel this way:

Abbas decried Israel's actions as "genocide" in the Gaza Strip amid its ongoing war against Hamas militants. He accused Israel of showing no regard for the principles of international law in its actions.

Meanwhile, the United States has taken a stance on the situation, refraining from endorsing a ceasefire and expressing support for Israel's objective of dismantling Hamas militants.

Land grabs and constant berating within its own borders is what Israel will see if the PA gets back in charge. How do we know this? That’s what they got before when the PA was in power. Such comments from Abbas only show the visceral hatred these leaders have for Israel.

It Must Stop

For me, the one condition all Arab leaders must agree to is to state unequivocally that Israel has right to exist and that they are a real nation. Listen closely and those words never come out when they speak. And they must agree to stop filling their people with hatred for Jews, which is all the people, including children hear all day, every day. In a more biblical view, all of this Arab/Israel bitterness and hatred started all the way back in Genesis when Abraham decided to help God out and have a child with his servant Hagar. Instead of trusting God to give him a son the way He wanted to do, Abraham and Sarah acted in their flesh and not in faith in God. Before we deride their actions, we need to look in our mirrors and honestly admit that we have done the same thing. Granted our disobedience won’t have the long reaching effects of their disobedience, but it is disobedience nevertheless and can’t be treated lightly. I pray I allow Holy Spirit to work in me to avoid future sinful actions from hurting me and all around me. And He can surely point to this war in Israel as a reminder how things will turn out if I continue to disobey. That’s a place for an amen, or an Oh me!