Netanyahu: Eliyahu’s remarks on Gaza being ‘wiped out’ not gov’t policy

A statement attributed to Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) that the Israeli government is “racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out” does not reflect government policy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.

“Eliyahu does not speak for the government I lead,” Netanyahu posted on X. “He is not a member of the Security Cabinet that determines the conduct of the war.”

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter issued a similar statement on Thursday, dismissing Eliyahu’s additional comment that “there’s no hunger in the Gaza Strip, but we don’t need to be concerned with hunger in the Strip. Let the world worry about it.

“The exact opposite is true,” Leiter posted on X. “Despite the enormous difficulties of providing humanitarian aid to the noncombatant population of Gaza, we have done so with determination and commitment. The PM has stated that ‘There will be no starvation in Gaza. Period.’ The government’s objective has been to create a mechanism that will amply supply Gazans with the aid they need, BUT NOT THROUGH HAMAS.”

He continued, “To provide aid through Hamas is to prolong the war. The quotes attributed to Minister Eliyahu are wrong, foolish and totally unrepresentative of the government and people of Israel. Our objective is, and will remain, the total defeat of Hamas, which serves death and destruction, murder and mayhem, on Israelis and Gazans, while providing humanitarian assistance to non-combatant Gazans.”

Eliyahu was quoted on July 24 as telling the Haredi radio station Kol Barama, “The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out. Thank God, we are wiping out this evil. We are pushing out this population that has been educated on Mein Kampf.”

“All Gaza will be Jewish,” he declared.