In an irregular move, the Israel Defense Forces comes out in support of Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, a candidate to take over as IDF chief of staff, amid a campaign by a right-wing group to have him removed from consideration for the position over controversial remarks he made in the past.
“Maj. Gen. Yair Golan has served in the IDF for 38 years in every field of battle, and his contribution to the security of Israel is great,” the army writes in a tweet.
“Presenting Maj. Gen. Golan as though he didn’t take action or won’t take action against terrorists does not match reality. Any attempt to sully the good name of an IDF commander and his operational contributions is unacceptable,” the IDF says.
On Sunday night, a group of over 100 familes of fallen soldiers sent a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman calling for him to dismiss Golan from the list of candidates over statements he made in 2016, which were seen as comparing Israel to pre-World War II Germany, and in 2006, which called for soldiers to risk their lives in order to save Palestinian civilians.
— Judah Ari Gross
Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Yair Golan in August 2015. (Gefen Reznik/IDF Spokesperson)
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 13, 2018
