A day after reigniting a firestorm over comments by IDF deputy chief Yair Golan by criticizing the general, Benjamin Netanyahu now says the affair is behind the country.
“The story of the speech is behind us. I see this as a one-off thing, and from here we’ll all continue together,” Netanyahu says at a pre-holiday toast with top army officials.
The comments would appear to put an end to calls from the right for Netanyahu to sack Golan over comments made at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, in which he seemed to draw parallels between segments of Israeli society to Nazi Germany.
Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Yair Golan lays a wreath at a memorial during a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum as Israel marks the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, May 5, 2016. (Olivier Fitoussi/Pool)
Golan quickly clarified his comments, amid an outcry, but on Sunday, Netanyahu embarked on a rare public attack on Golan, accusing him of cheapening the Holocaust.
A number of politicians seized on Netanyahu’s comments as hypocritical, given claims he himself has used the Holocaust for political gain.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 9, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
