From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 9, 2025
Golan: Netanyahu endangering lives of hostages, soldiers and civilians to remain in power
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"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “endangering the lives” of Israeli soldiers, civilians and hostages in order to hold on to power, The Democrats chief Yair Golan declares, calling the premier’s call for “complete victory” in Gaza a “lie” and warning that the government will use “violence, hatred” and “bribery” to maintain its rule.
Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Golan says that complete victory “is a term that has no real military or political meaning” — describing it as “propaganda” and asserting that the occupation of the Gaza Strip “is not a security objective” but rather “a political move that weakens Israel’s security, endangers the hostages and IDF soldiers.”
“I want to be clear: an Israeli takeover of the Gaza Strip is not a complete victory, it is a complete surrender to the extreme messianic line led by Ben Gvir and Smotrich,” he says, referring to two far-right members of the coalition.
“Real security for Israel will be achieved in only one way: a broad regional arrangement, with the support of the United States and the inclusion of the moderate Sunni axis countries. A move that will topple the Hamas regime, isolate Iran, and return Israel to the path of legitimacy and strategic alliances.”
Citing a Sunday evening Channel 12 report that documents seized in Gaza quoted then-Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh as saying that Qatari funding was “Hamas’s main artery,” Golan says that this money transfer, facilitated by Netanyahu, “financed the rockets, the anti-tank missiles, the explosives and the weapons with which Israeli citizens were massacred” on October 7.
Under Netanyahu, prior to October 7, Israel allowed suitcases with millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through its crossings in order to maintain its fragile ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Strip.
Turning to the next elections, Golan says that “this will be the most violent, ugly, and dangerous election campaign the State of Israel has ever known.”
“The Netanyahu government will do everything to preserve its rule: violence, hatred, criminality, bribery, incitement, intimidation, and physical bullying. We will not descend into violence because that is not our path and never will be,” Golan declares.
The Times of Israel Community.