From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Coalition, opposition politicians condemn Golan for saying Israel ‘killing children as a hobby’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Politicians from across the political spectrum condemn Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing The Democrats party, after he declares that Israel was killing children in Gaza “as a hobby.”
Golan apparently “took a page from the Hamas spokesman” and his own hobby “has always been spreading antisemitic blood libels against the State of Israel,” says far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
“Yair Golan is a terrorist” who is “sabotaging efforts to achieve war goals, sabotaging the safety of IDF fighters and sabotaging Israeli democracy,” says Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slams Golan’s “blood libel against the State of Israel and its army,” asserting that it will “add fuel to the fire of antisemitism in the world.”
“Accusing our heroic fighters, who risk their lives for the country, of murdering babies is not criticism. It is a blood libel and serious incitement,” echoes Education Minister Yoav Kisch.
Golan is not an MK and does not have parliamentary immunity, he adds, calling on the attorney general “to immediately open an investigation against him for incitement.”
“Every decent, ethical and moral Zionist must renounce Golan and his actions and make it clear that there are red lines that are not crossed,” says Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing him of giving Israel’s enemies “a sword to kill us.”
“Anyone who compared Israeli society in the past to the Nazi regime and is now slandering and defaming the State of Israel and the IDF in a time of war must be ostracized from public life,” says Defense Minister Israel Katz, referring to a 2016 speech in which the then-senior IDF officer likened developments being seen in Israel to what he said were similar “disturbing processes” that took place in Europe in the run-up to the Holocaust.
“He who slanders the country does not deserve it,” tweets United Torah Judaism chairman Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf, while Shas leader Aryeh Deri calls on Golan’s fellow opposition party leaders to “unequivocally disavow Yair Golan and make it clear to the public that under no circumstances will they form a government with him.”
Opposition party leaders also condemn Golan.
In a statement, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says that Israel’s fighters “are heroes” and any claim that they kill babies is “a gift to our enemies.”
“I support the IDF and its fighters and condemn the statement,” he says.
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calls on Golan “to retract and apologize” to the troops for his “outrageous, false, and extreme” statement, which he says “endangers the freedom of our heroic fighters” to operate in Gaza.
“The State of Israel has waged a just war since its founding and does so according to international rules and the highest moral values. Someone like Golan, who was deputy chief of IDF staff, knows this. Come back to your senses, Yair, and apologize, it’s not too late,” Gantz tweets.
“The IDF is the most moral army in the world, and any such false statement against it harms our soldiers and the security of the state,” weighs in Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett declares that “the one who murders babies is Hamas and only Hamas.”
“Israel is in a difficult defensive war against an enemy that is using its own population as a human shield. Hamas’s goal is to bring about the killing of its own citizens,” tweets Bennett. “Our fighters are working and will continue to act with courage, morality, and determination to protect us.”
The Times of Israel Community.