From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Golan says Ben Gvir and Smotrich are not Zionists or Jews, says they dance on the blood of fallen soldiers
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"
Far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are neither Zionists nor Jews, declares The Democrats chairman Yair Golan, following an incident in which five IDF troops were killed by a roadside bomb in Gaza.
“Smotrich and Ben Gvir heard about the death of five fighters and immediately jumped to dance on their blood,” Golan posts on X, using a Hebrew expression which means to gloat.
“Just more and more death, more blood, more war for the sake of clinging to power and messianic delusions. They are not Zionists. Nor are they Jews. End the war. Bring back all the hostages. Save Israel,” Golan writes.
Following the overnight attack, in which five soldiers died in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, Finance Minister Smotrich insisted that despite the pain of losing so many troops, Israel must continue fighting in Gaza or risk “far greater bloodshed” in the future.
National Security Minister Ben Gvir, in turn, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring back the team negotiating a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas in indirect talks in Doha.
“We should not negotiate with those who kill our soldiers,” said Ben Gvir, calling for “a complete siege, crush them militarily, encouraging [Palestinian] immigration and [Jewish] settlement.”
The Times of Israel Community.