Yair Golan says government lacks plan to end war with Iran, Hezbollah

By Ariela Karmel

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16 March 2026, 5:37 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Democrats chair Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on February 9, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Democrats party leader Yair Golan says that the government has no plan for ending Israel’s war against Iran and against Hezbollah in Lebanon, in one of the first remarks from an opposition leader challenging the government’s policies since the US and Israel launched a joint campaign against the Islamic Republic more than two weeks ago.

“In Iran, there is no exit strategy or plan to end the campaign. Without regional cooperation and sustained American backing, we will not be able to turn military achievements into Iran abandoning its nuclear program and limiting its ability to destabilize the region,” says the left-wing leader, speaking before a faction meeting at the Knesset.

“This government does not know how to win wars. It knows only one thing: how to open another front, another round, another cycle of bloodshed without goals, without a horizon, and without a strategy that can translate military achievements into real security,” he continues, calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “obstacle” to national security.

“He boasts and takes pride in the achievements of the IDF, but fails in his duty to turn them into a strategic-political decision,” he continues.

Golan points to Israel’s war in Gaza, where he notes that despite military accomplishments, significant casualties, and more than two years of fighting, Hamas remains at large.

“We must not allow this failure to replicate itself in Iran and Lebanon,” he says, following the IDF’s announcement today that it had begun a “targeted ground operation” in southern Lebanon.

Golan, who fought in Lebanon in the 1982 war and subsequent conflicts and later served as chief of the IDF’s Northern Command and as deputy chief of staff, says, “The military option in Lebanon always exists, but it must be said clearly: before sending divisions into the Lebanese quagmire, the diplomatic option must be exhausted to the fullest. We must not allow this government to drag us into an endless war there as well.”