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.