Russia’s foreign ministry stated on Tuesday that many questions had been raised by a comment made by a junior Israeli minister that seemed to indicate openness to the notion of Israel launching a nuclear strike on Gaza.
Amihay Eliyahu, the minister of heritage for the far-right party in the coalition government, was barred from cabinet sessions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday “until further notice”.
When asked in a radio program about the possibility of going nuclear, Eliyahu had said, “That’s one way.”
The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was cited by the official RIA news agency as saying, “This has raised a huge number of questions.”
According to Zakharova, the primary concern was that Israel seemed to have acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons.
Despite having roughly 90 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists, Israel does not officially acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons.
If that is the case, she questioned, then where are international nuclear inspectors and the International Atomic Energy Agency?
Iran demanded a prompt international response to Eliyahu’s remarks, which were denounced by the Arab world, embarrassed major Israeli media, and were labeled “objectionable” by an American official.
