Golan defends ‘killing babies’ comment, says it was directed at ‘failed’ government
Amid condemnation, left-wing leader, a former deputy IDF chief, says he supports soldiers and his words are meant for government that ‘sounds like Hamas’ when talking about starving children
The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan pushed back Tuesday evening against widespread criticism of his comment that Israel was killing babies in Gaza “as a hobby,” saying that it was directed at the government, not the military.
Speaking with national broadcaster Kan Tuesday morning, the retired general had said that “Israel is on the way to becoming a pariah state, like South Africa was, if we don’t return to acting like a sane country.”
The left-wing leader added that “a sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.”
After his comments drew condemnations from both sides of the aisle, Golan asserted in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday evening that he is not scared of the “poison machine,” and will not back down from bullies who try to silence the truth.
“I said this morning that we are a sane country that does not kill children. When ministers in this government celebrate the death and starvation of children, we must say so,” he said in his evening address.
“I was referring solely to the most failed government in Israel’s history — not to the IDF. Our mission is to ensure that Israel remains a sane country that does not kill children either as a hobby or as a policy,” Golan declared.
✊???????? Labor Party Leader Yair Golan, a retired IDF general, slams the Netanyahu government for abandoning hostages, undermining the IDF, and dragging the country into disaster. #BringThemHomeNow #Endthewar #SavingIsraeliDemocracy #Leadership @YairGolan1 pic.twitter.com/zjExXEoh8i
— UnXeptable (@UnxeptableD) May 20, 2025
“A government that says that it is possible to abandon hostages and that children should be starved is a government that sounds like a Hamas spokesman,” he charged.
“A government that talks about an atomic bomb in Gaza is not a Jewish government, and it is certainly not Zionist,” he said, asserting that the IDF “is my home and it is my heart.”
“Neither [Bezalel] Smotrich nor [Itamar] Ben Gvir, who are [military service] evaders, and certainly not [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, will teach me what combat ethics are, and what it means to protect the IDF. Therefore, I am not willing to remain silent when an irresponsible government harms my army. Those who truly hold the IDF dear to their hearts…must stand up courageously against the government,” asserted Golan, a former deputy chief of staff of the IDF.
Continuing, Golan accused the government of turning a “justified and necessary” war into “a war without a security or national purpose,” asserting that “what we are seeing now in Gaza is not a maneuver to release hostages, because it was possible long ago to release all the hostages in one comprehensive deal and return them home.”
The current operation in Gaza is also “not a campaign to topple Hamas” because Israel could have long ago taken steps to begin establishing an alternative to the terror group’s rule “with the assistance of the moderate Sunnis, as a regional project that strengthens Israel’s position and security,” he added.
Rejecting the criticism against him and alluding to attacks on government critics from within Netanyahu’s circle, Golan said that he is “not frightened by the poison machine” nor “by the bullying” or “the attempt to terrorize anyone who dares to speak the truth.”
After his original comments were aired Tuesday morning, Netanyahu said Golan was spreading “despicable antisemitic blood libels against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that any claim that Israeli soldiers kill babies is “a gift to our enemies.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin called for the IDF to revoke Golan’s military rank in the wake of his comments, saying: “Anyone who spreads such a lie about IDF soldiers can no longer bear the rank of general.”
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Golan apparently “took a page from the Hamas spokesman,” while Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called Golan a “terrorist” who is “sabotaging efforts to achieve war goals, sabotaging the safety of IDF fighters and sabotaging Israeli democracy.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed Golan’s “blood libel against the State of Israel,” and Defense Minister Israel Katz said he must be “ostracized from public life.”
However, his comments were supported by some Israeli figures, including former Labor prime minister Ehud Barak, who called the leader of his successor party a “brave, direct man,” adding that “I would prefer him by my side over all his detractors and condemners of the last few hours.”
“Even if it would have been better if he had chosen one or two other words, it is clear that he meant the political leadership, not the fighters,” Barak insisted.
Though long a controversial figure, Golan, 63, emerged as a brief consensus hero in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, when he headed to the front lines and helped rescue partygoers fleeing the attack.
Golan retired from the IDF in 2018 after 38 years of active military duty. He entered politics in 2019 as part of the left-wing Democratic Union’s electoral slate, before joining Meretz ahead of the March 2021 elections. He subsequently won the Labor party primary and became chairman in May 2024, overseeing its merger with Meretz to become the party now known as The Democrats.
The Times of Israel Community.