Former PM Ehud Barak defends Yair Golan amid outcry over ‘killing babies’ accusation

Former Labor prime minister Ehud Barak defends The Democrats chairman Yair Golan following widespread outrage over a statement he made during a radio interview on Tuesday morning, alleging that Israel was killing babies in Gaza “as a hobby.”

“Yair Golan is a brave, direct man [and] if I had to go on a raid tonight or a tough political campaign tomorrow, I would prefer him by my side over all his detractors and condemners of the last few hours,” Barak, an ex-IDF chief of staff, tweets.

“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 insists.

Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff and current head of The Democrats party, a merger of Labor and Meretz, said in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster 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 political leader, who is not a current member of Knesset, 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.”

Following a massive public backlash, Golan sought to defend himself from the criticism, praising IDF fighters as “heroes” fighting on behalf of a “corrupt” government.

“IDF fighters are heroes; government ministers are corrupt. The IDF is ethical, and the people are upright; the government is crooked. The war must be ended, the hostages returned, and Israel rehabilitated,” Golan tweeted.