You Know Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Now Meet the Dangerous Israeli Minister You've Never Heard Of
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu is helping lead one aspect of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign: the stealing of Palestinian land for “archeological” reasons.
He called nuking Gaza “one option.”
He was among the Israeli lawmakers who participated in protests for the right of Israeli soldiers to rape Palestinian detainees.
And he’s using his position to help Israel systematically steal Palestinian land.
This isn’t ultranationalist Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, but a lesser-known, dangerous member of the Israeli government: Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu.
Eliyahu is part of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party (Otzma Yahudit) and has been Israel’s minister of heritage since 2022 (he briefly resigned in January 2025 because he did not like the so-called Gaza ceasefire in January, but he was quickly reappointed in March 2025). The media frequently refer to him as “far right” rather than fascist, and his statements are often dismissed or downplayed. I have been told so many times that he is “fringe” and that he just says these things for votes. And yes, he was “suspended” by Netanyahu (briefly) in 2023 after saying dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was “one option” (Eliyahu attempted to claim his remark was “metaphorical”). But that is it.
Since then, he has said that Israel must find ways of dealing with Palestinians that are “more painful than death.” He has supported the rape and torture of Palestinian hostages held illegally in torture camps in Israel and swarmed the Sde Teiman torture camp along with his supporters after nine Israeli soldiers were detained briefly for brutally torturing a Palestinian hostage. He has called for the bombing of Gaza’s food stores, and has said that anyone who waves the Palestinian flag “shouldn’t continue living on the face of the Earth.” He has also called for the establishment of settlements in Gaza, made genocidal statements such as “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza,” and called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. With statements like this, it is obvious why the Israeli government – a government that attempts to look “democratic” when it is really fascist – wants to hide the Eliyahus of Israel.
But Eliyahu is a minister, and he is using his power as minister to do what Israel loves to do: steal Palestinian land. Eliyahu’s latest target is the Palestinian West Bank town of Sebastia.
Seizing Sebastia
Sebastia is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the West Bank and is located a little over six miles (10 km northwest) of Nablus. It sits on the junction of two main routes: the northern Nablus road to Jenin and the western route from the Jordan valley to the coast. The town, home to over 3,000 Palestinians, is the burial site of John the Baptist, where the Nabi Yahya mosque is located. Sebastia’s archaeological sites include the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, a Roman forum and amphitheatre, and one can often see children running up and down the steps of the amphitheater as their elders have done for centuries. Its terraced landscape is filled with olive, apricot, and fig trees, tenderly cared for for hundreds of years. It has been on the UNESCO “tentative list” of World Heritage Sites for the State of Palestine since 2012.
Israel’s intention is clear – to sever the ancient site of Sebastia from the Palestinian historic town of Sebastia, and turn the site into a settler-led “tourist” attraction (similar to what the Israelis did with the City of David in Silwan, East Jerusalem).
Eliyahu is targeting Sebastia under the pretext of “developing the archaeological site in Sebastia.” The focus, of course, is on one history: Jewish history. The aim is to erase all others. On Nov. 19, 2025, the Israeli army published an order declaring its intention to seize around 1,800 dunams (more than 400 acres of Palestinian land), including the archaeological heart of Sebastia, along with surrounding lands that belong to families from Sebastia and the nearby town of Burqa. This is roughly 25% of Sebastia’s land. The expropriation order includes 550 privately owned olive orchards and four houses.
This development follows a government decision in May 2023 that allocated 32 million NIS (nearly $10 million) to develop what Israeli authorities call the “Shomron (Samaria) National Park” (Samaria being Israel’s term for the West Bank) in a plan that entails massive development of the site, including a visitors’ center, a parking lot, and a fence that will separate the acropolis from the rest of the town.
“Once an area becomes a ‘heritage site,’ it is open to Israelis, it is open to foreigners, but it is not open to the Indigenous inhabitants of the land – the people who have cared for these sites for centuries – us Palestinians.”
-Zaid Azhari, Palestinian cultural researcher
While Israel has long used archaeology as a means of taking over Palestinian land and of separating Palestinians from their land, this is the largest seizure of Palestinian archeological sites and is being met with radio silence by the world.
“I cannot imagine my life without Columns Street,” Zaid Azhari, a cultural heritage researcher from Sebastia, tells me, referring to the Roman columns that run through Sebastia. “Every newly married couple takes their first walk together on Columns Street, and every child has a picture of themself sitting on the steps of the Roman theatre.” Of course, once Israel takes over these lands, they will be completely off limits to Palestinians, including Zaid. “We have seen this pattern before,” says Zaid. “Once an area becomes a ‘heritage site,’ it is open to Israelis, it is open to foreigners, but it is not open to the Indigenous inhabitants of the land – the people who have cared for these sites for centuries – us Palestinians.”
Zaid is referring to the many sites across the West Bank that are now off limits to Palestinians, where “archaeology” or even religious significance was used as a pretext to take Palestinian land. For example, the Palestinian town of Qaryut was taken over by Israel under the guise of an archaeological excavation camp back in 1978. Instead, Israel established the settlement of Shiloh and, to this day, the owners of the land of Qaryut can no longer access their land, while the Israeli settlement of Shiloh not only remains standing but has expanded. We have watched this movie for decades; we know the ending. “Where will the families go?” I ask Zaid. “I don’t know,” he responds.
As he speaks, I think of the more than 32,000 Palestinians in the West Bank whose houses have been blown up or bulldozed in the past two years alone. These are Palestinians from Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps (yes, Israel is blowing up refugee camps), now made refugees again. Where will they go?
With the horrors that Israel has inflicted on Gaza, people often forget what Israel is doing in the West Bank. Israel’s overall plan is overlooked: the ethnic cleansing of Palestine – all of it. It is done through different means – through genocide; by blowing up and destroying homes; by stealing land for settlements; by throwing Palestinians in prison indefinitely, and even through stealing land for “archeological” reasons. The aim is the same: to pretend that we never existed. This is Israel’s “heritage,” and Eliyahu is the best person to represent it
So, no, Eliyahu is not “fringe” – but he is unique: he is open and honest about what he intends to do; the others are not. And yes, while the statements about nuking Gaza being “one option” are condemned, his overall plan to steal Palestinian land (and get rid of us) is not. He is part of the Israeli government (and likely to be re-elected), and the government aims to steal Palestinian land through any means possible – and they are getting away with it.
Sebastia’s residents are urging people to join their Save Sebastia campaign. More information can be found on Instagram at @savesebastia.
Diana Buttu is a Haifa-based lawyer and analyst who was a legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in the early 2000s and is a frequent commentator and writer on Palestinian and Israeli issues. She is also a practitioner in residence at Georgetown University in Qatar. She writes Zeteo’s ‘A Diary from a Palestinian in Israel.’
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Zeteo.
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If the Jewish community, that is mostly good, doesn't reject people like Netanyahu, and this character, then they very well may expect some kind of retribution! If Palestinians can't attack Israelis in Israel because of intense security, then they may attack elsewhere and isn't that obvious? You can't treat people so horribly and not expect any type of reaction. The answer would be to get rid of the right wing Bibi government, remove the settlements in the West Bank, repair the damage in Gaza for Palestinians (not trump or Kushner) and create a 2 state solution. Until that happens, Jews will most likely not be safe anywhere. Believe me, I'm personally not a threat and deplore violence of any kind but a country (as with the U.S. also) needs to be held accountable for their actions.
I know this time of year maybe difficult for my Muslim friends and family. Especially with all the bombings going on in the Middle East, genocide, oppression, and other nasty stuff our country does in the name of freedom, or free-dumb, this can be a difficult time.
A lot of people are suffering and blaming "others".
"It's the anti-semitic Arabs!" (Yes, irony is often missed.)
"It is the anti-Zionist anti-semitic Muslims who chant Free Palestine!"
"It's the liberals, Bernie Sanders, progressives and self hating Jews of Peace!"
"It's the Zionist Jews who build settlements, evict Palestinians homes, burn down their crops, and then cast Palestinian children as terrorists for throwing stones and resisting against the IDF, the most moral army in the world!" Well, this one is hard to dispute.
I mean, if American Jews from NYC and LA have the right to return, to a land where Palestinians were evicted from, why can't Palestinians have a right to return?
Because they weren't the "Chosen ones." They just live through the land generation after generation, through empires, conquest, conversion from Jews to Christianity or Islam.
Now they are forced to live as refugees in their own land while European and American Jews take their homes.
If the Resistance from sci-fi and fantasy movies taught us anything, it is that violent uprising from "rebel scums" is celebrated among the fans. But when Muslims do it, it is terrorism.