Israeli minister retweets post promoting Sinai occupation
Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu on Wednesday retweeted a social media post promoting the sale of merchandise calling for the occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, more than four decades after Israel returned the territory to Egypt as part of the two side’s landmark 1979 peace treaty.
The tweet, by user Ayelet Lash, called on the public to purchase a shirt printed with what is supposed to be a map of Israel — including the West Bank, Gaza and Sinai — emblazoned with the slogan “Occupation Now.”
It also contained a link to a website selling “Occupation Now” merchandise and advocating for the expansion of Israeli sovereignty into Sinai, southern Lebanon and, eventually, Jordan.
The original post, which was promoted by Eliyahu, declared: “The people demand an occupation! Occupation now!”
Eliyahu has a history of contentious rhetoric, including accusing Israel’s security chiefs of “rebelling” against the current coalition, calling anti-Netanyahu protesters “evil,” and dubbing Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron a “savage.”
Last November, he sparked international outrage by claiming that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was an option.