Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that opposition leader Yair Golan’s comment saying Israel is “killing babies as a hobby” was no different than “antisemitic blood libels” against Israeli forces.
The chairman of the Democrats Party made the remark about Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the terrorist group’s massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, earlier on Tuesday when speaking to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News, stirring heated reactions from across the political spectrum.
“Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah among nations, like South Africa once was, if it doesn’t return to acting like a sane state,” he said. “A sane state does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not set goals of population expulsion for itself.”
Golan further accused the government of having “nothing whatsoever to do with Judaism. Kahanist types, lacking wisdom, lacking morality and lacking the ability to manage a state in times of emergency. This is dangerous to our very existence. Therefore, it is time to replace this government as soon as possible so that this war can also come to an end.”
Netanyahu berated Golan, who holds the rank of general in the Israel Defense Forces reserves, branding his remarks as “outrageous” with “no limit to [the] moral decay.”
“The IDF is the most moral army in the world, and our soldiers are fighting a battle for our very existence. Golan, who has encouraged refusal to serve and previously compared Israel to the Nazis while in uniform, has now reached a new low,” said the Israeli premier.
“While we are engaged in a multi-front war and leading complex diplomatic efforts to free our hostages and defeat Hamas, Golan and his allies in the radical left are echoing some of the vilest antisemitic blood libels against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel,” he said.
The Israeli military issued a statement on behalf of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who “strongly condemns any statement that casts doubt on the integrity of the IDF’s actions and the morality of its soldiers.”
“The IDF and its soldiers operate against our enemies with loyalty to the values of the IDF, the law, and international law, while maintaining an uncompromising commitment to the security of the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement continued.
“IDF soldiers are operating, and will continue to operate, day and night, on all fronts, with determination and morality, as they always have,” it concluded.
‘Retract your words’
The World Jewish Congress announced on Tuesday that it had canceled a scheduled speech by Golan in response to his remarks, saying that his comments disqualified him from addressing its forum.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tweeted that “Yair Golan’s blood libel against the State of Israel and its army will not be forgiven. What Golan said will undoubtedly serve as fuel on the fire of global antisemitism. This, while Israel is fighting for its survival against a coalition seeking its destruction.”
Former defense minister Yoav Gallant said that “the question is not how a reservist general became hostile to the IDF but how a person hostile to the IDF became a general.”
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman responded harshly to Golan via X.
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf said, “He who slanders his country is not worthy of it. Yair Golan, shame on you.”
Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, lashed out at Golan’s statement, calling it “a gift to our enemies. I give my full backing to the IDF and its fighters.” He denounced the Democrats chairman as a “radical leftist” in an internal Zoom meeting.
Golan is “getting mandates because he’s a general, but right after the primary, everyone will realize this is a radical left-wing party,” Lapid reportedly told party members in the leaked Yesh Atid Zoom call.
Responding on Monday to the latest controversy, Benny Gantz, the chairman of the Israel Resilience Party and a former IDF chief of staff, called on Golan to retract his statement and apologize to Israeli soldiers.
“IDF soldiers do not ‘kill babies as a hobby.’ Such statements are not only outrageous, false, and extreme—they also endanger the freedom of our brave soldiers before international courts,” Gantz warned.
“Retract your words, Yair, and apologize. It’s not too late.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also condemned Golan’s remarks. “Our sons and daughters are now on the front lines, defending us—our people and our country,” he said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
“They have left behind their hobbies, their families, their livelihoods and their lives. A severe and false slander against IDF soldiers is a red line. Our soldiers are among the most moral in the world, and when they fight with great sacrifice to defend the people and bring the hostages home, this is not a hobby.”
While not backing down, Golan seemed to suggest that he had been taken out of context.
“We’ve already tried Gantz’s method to appease Netanyahu, and it failed. The meaning of my statements was clear: This war is the realization of [Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich’s fantasies. And if we allow them to carry them out, we will become a pariah state,” he tweeted.
“It’s time for us to have a spine of forged steel; we must stand firmly by our values as a Zionist, Jewish and democratic state,” Golan continued. “IDF soldiers are heroes; the government ministers are corrupt. The IDF is moral, and the people are upright—the government is crooked. This war must be brought to an end, the hostages returned and Israel rebuilt.”