Netanyahu Suspends a Minister Who Said that Dropping a Nuclear Bomb on Gaza Was an Option.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel suspended a far-right minister Amichay Eliyahu from his government on Sunday. | Kenny Holston/The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel took the highly unusual step on Sunday of suspending a far-right minister from his government who had told a Hebrew radio station that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza and killing everyone there was “one way” of dealing with the threat from Hamas.

Mr. Netanyahu’s swift action came amid an immediate and broad outcry over the comments made on Sunday morning by Amichay Eliyahu, the minister of heritage from the ultranationalist Jewish Power party. In his remarks, Mr. Eliyahu also said that there was no such thing as noncombatants in Gaza.

While the Jewish Power Party is a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government, Mr. Eliyahu is not a member of the war cabinet prosecuting Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza. » | Isabel Kershner Reporting from Jerusalem | Sunday, November 5, 2023

Seoul: Living in the Shadow of the Bomb - BBC Newsnight

Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Seoul on the North Korean defectors who want to bring down Kim Jong-un and asks if Seoul’s residents are concerned about the nuclear threat from North Korea.

Kim Jong-un's Ticking Time Bomb

ISIS in Nuke Boast: We Can Get Atomic Bomb 'Within a Year' from Corrupt Officials

DAILY EXPRESS: ISLAMIC State (ISIS) are poised to buy its first nuclear bomb "within a year", the terror group claimed tonight.

The jihadists are looking to get hold of an atomic weapon or thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate explosive.

The merciless organisation says it hopes to purchase a nuclear device “through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials” in Pakistan.

But it admits that obtaining the deadly weapon may be a challenge and says it would settle for a “few thousand tons of ammonium nitrate explosive”.

The chilling boast was made in the latest edition of its propaganda ‘magazine’ circulated to publicise the group’s barbaric aims.

ISIS says it has already seized “tanks, rocket launchers, missile systems, anti-aircraft systems” – and is now setting its sights on the ultimate dirty bomb. » | Tom Batchelor | Friday, May 22, 2015

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad May End Up as Genghis Khan with a Nuclear Bomb
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran will not be shamed into abandoning stoning, or its nuclear ambitions, says Alasdair Palmer.

Joseph Stalin was once described as "Genghis Khan with a telephone". President Ahmadinejad may soon be Genghis Khan with a nuclear bomb. Admittedly, Ahmadinejad hasn't yet committed mass murder on that scale, although when he promised to "wipe Israel off the map", he showed that he would – if only he could. And he may treat his own people slightly better than Genghis Khan treated his. But as Dr Johnson said, "there is no settling orders of precedence between a louse and a flea".

Ahmadinejad has imprisoned thousands for protesting against the brutality, incompetence and illegitimacy of his rule; he has condoned the imposition of the death penalty for any Muslim who converts to another faith; and he supports punishing adultery by stoning those involved to death.

There has been a global campaign to persuade Iran to end stoning, a disgustingly barbaric punishment which inflicts pain of the same order as impaling, Genghis Khan's favourite method of execution, and may take even longer to cause death. It centres on the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 44-year-old mother and widow who was convicted of adultery in 2006 and punished with 99 lashes. She has been in prison ever since, as the judges decided that 99 lashes wasn't a severe enough sentence for the crime of loving someone who isn't your spouse: she deserved to be stoned to death. Continue reading and comment >>> Alasdair Palmer | Saturday, September 04, 2010

David Cameron ‘Misspeaks’ by Claiming Iran Has Bomb
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has been accused of being a "foreign policy klutz" after he mistakenly claimed that Iran possessed a nuclear weapon.

David Cameron had a torrid time at his latest PM Direct. Photo: The Telegraph
Downing Street admitted that the Prime Minister had "misspoken" during a question and answer session with voters when he suggested that the Islamic Republic, which is seeking to develop a nuclear capacity, was already in possession of the bomb.

His slip-up came during a torrid “PM Direct” in Brighton, when he was also accused by a pensioner of “denigrating” his country by suggesting that Britain was the junior partner of the United States against the Nazis in 1940s. America did not enter the War until 1941.

It is the latest in a series of off-the-cuff foreign policy remarks, after he last week accused Pakistan of “exporting terror” and claimed that the Israelis were forcing Palestinians in Gaza to live in a “prison camp”.

Mr Cameron made his Iran blunder when he was asked why he was backing Turkey to join the European Union, telling the audience that he hoped that this could help solve global problems: "like the Middle East peace process, like the fact that Iran has got a nuclear weapon". >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Thursday, August 05, 2010

This PM is beginning to appear inept. He has absolutely NO UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM OR THE THREAT IT POSES. His support of Turkey’s accession to the EU is nothing short of CONTEMPTIBLE; and his desire to close down discussion about the banning of the burqah is NAÏVE and STUPID and GUTLESS and SHORT-SIGHTED. Now this display of IGNORANCE! His education at Eton and Oxford is certainly NOT SERVING HIM WELL! – © Mark

It May Be Too Late to Stop Iran Getting Nuclear Bomb, Says Former US Defence Official
TIMES ONLINE: It may be too late to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, a former senior US defence official has warned.

The official, who has long experience with several US administrations, said President Obama had waited too long to take tough action against Tehran.

“Fifteen months into his administration, Iran has faced no significant consequences for continuing with its uranium-enrichment programme, despite two deadlines set by Obama, which came and went without anything happening,” the former official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times. “Now it may be too late to stop Iran from becoming nuclear-capable.”

He said that the wrong signals had been sent to Tehran. “First, there was talk of crippling sanctions, then they would be biting, and now we don’t know how tough they’re going to be. It depends on the level of support given by Russia and China — but neither is expected to back measures against Iran’s energy sector.”

He outlined one nightmare scenario, in which Iran developed a nuclear weapon and passed it on to Hezbollah, which it sponsors — and which has an artillery and missile inventory larger than many countries in the region.

Underlining the gloomy prognosis of Iran’s progress towards becoming a nuclear-weapon state, Tehran announced yesterday that work would begin on a new enrichment plant — part of a significant expansion of the programme. President Ahmadinejad had approved the “designated location of a new nuclear site”, an Iranian official said. >>> Michael Evans, Pentagon Correspondent, Washington | Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Russia 'Very Alarmed' by Iran Nuclear Report
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran was driven deeper into international isolation yesterday after Russia said it was "very alarmed" by a leaked UN report which directly accused the country of building a nuclear weapon for the first time.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Moscow had lost patience with the regime after UN weapons inspectors declared for the first time on Thursday that it was seeking to "weaponise" its nuclear stocks.

"We are very alarmed and we cannot accept this, that Iran is refusing to co-operate with the IAEA," Mr Lavrov said. "Some questions remain on the table and Iran has so far not reacted to them but they are rather serious and we need to understand how several documents concerning military nuclear technology found their way to Iran.

"Clear explanations are needed."

The strong denunciation was a departure for Russia, which has been a brake on efforts to censure Iran until recently.

Iran suffered a double blow on Thursday when a G20 report on money laundering identified the Islamic Republic as the worst violator of laws against funding terrorism and the proliferation of weapons. The report also hinted at concerns that banks in Syria and Turkey, two other nations cited for involvement in terrorism financing, were acting as an axis to help Iran evade UN financial sanctions. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Friday, February 19, 2010

Irael Braces Itself for Iran Bomb
YNET NEWS: State sources say Olmert orders top cabinet officials to draft proposals for dealing with potential nuclear Iran. Minister Ayalon: 'We must prepare for scenario where all alternatives fail'

Israel is quietly preparing for the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran despite public pledges to deny its arch-foe the means to pose an "existential threat", political and defense sources said on Thursday.

They said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed cabinet officials to draft proposals on how Israel, which according to foreign media reports retains the only atomic arsenal in the Middle East, might deal with losing that monopoly.

Israel predicts that Iran's nuclear program could produce warheads by 2009. Western intelligence services say it may take several more years. Israel braces for Iran bomb despite vow to prevent (more)

Mark Alexander