Itamar Ben-Gvir has received attention and sharp criticism in recent days after he was interviewed in a podcast released on Saturday.
"I think targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, taking out 30-40 people every night," he said, according to Politico, and continued:
Not just those who pose an immediate threat. No, these are people who are not worth living. They shouldn't live. They aren't even human.
The words have prompted senior German politicians to demand EU sanctions against Ben-Gvir.
These are statements that the government cannot accept in any way, says Lars Klingbeil, Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance, to the television channel Sat 1.
I stand in solidarity with Israel, but I do not stand in solidarity with such ministers, he continues, and according to Tagesschau, he receives support from the entire German political spectrum - from the far-right AFD party to the left-wing Die Linke party.
Sweden wants to see sanctions
Germany has repeatedly opposed EU proposals targeting Israel, most recently in June when it was one of the countries that opposed sanctions against Ben-Gvir. Some EU countries have independently imposed their own sanctions against Ben-Gvir, including France and Ireland.
Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard "reacts with disgust" to this weekend's statement.
"The Swedish government has been absolutely right to take the initiative to introduce EU sanctions against extremist Israeli ministers - such as Ben-Gvir," she wrote in a statement on Monday.
Presented execution site
Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday unveiled new hanging facilities being built in an Israeli prison's death row - cells and facilities intended for Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death for deadly terror attacks, in a controversial bill pushed through this spring that in practice applies to Palestinians but not Israelis.
"I promised to worsen conditions for terrorists in our prisons, and I kept that promise," he said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
We are writing history. Our terrorists deserve only one thing, death by hanging.
