At our site, Joe Catron has been following the eliminationist language of Shas rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Andrew Sullivan is also on the case. (Thanks to Peter Voskamp)

“Destroy [the Iranian regime] God, obliterate them from the face of the earth,” – Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, after being briefed by Netanyahu’s administration on the Iranian threat.

“Obliterate them from the face of the earth.” Recall that the Shas party is an integral part of Neyanyahu’s coalition, and the briefing was designed to put religious pressure on the Shas minister in the inner security candidate still sane enough to oppose a pre-emptive strike on Iran.

Let there be no mistake: this is an Israeli rabbi calling for another people to be obliterated from the face of the earth. The ironies seem lost.