Second former top general could join race to lead embattled Labor party

Former IDF deputy chief of staff Yair Golan could join the race to lead the embattled Labor party ahead of the new elections in September, Channel 12 reported Monday.

According to the report, current leader Avi Gabbay informed Golan that he would be able to run even though he has not been a party member in the last six months.

Golan had recently expressed his interest in getting into politics after fresh elections were called when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to put a coalition together. Golan has not said which party he is interested in joining.

Golan, who left the IDF in 2017, caused controversy in a national Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in 2016, when he compared trends in Israeli society to those in pre-World War II Germany.

At an official ceremony in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the major-general said that “if there is something that frightens me in the memory of the Holocaust, it is identifying horrifying processes that occurred in Europe…70, 80 and 90 years ago and finding evidence of their existence here in our midst, today, in 2016.”

While his critique of Israeli society was likely aimed at support for Jewish extremist actions, Golan specifically touched upon the issue of moral flaws within the army, saying the strength of the IDF was its ability to thoroughly investigate and punish wrongdoers “and take responsibility for the good and the bad” without justifying their actions or attempting to cover them up. The speech came amid handwringing over the case of Elor Azaria, a soldier who shot and killed a wounded and disarmed Palestinian assailant in Hebron months earlier and who was convicted of manslaughter.

Eloquent in both Hebrew and English, Golan holds a master’s degree from Harvard University. He was wounded but continued to command during a shootout with Hezbollah fighters in 1997 and was a well-regarded officer in the IDF, holding a number of top positions during his 37-year career.

The news comes after another former general, Tal Russo, who was appointed by Gabbay as the No. 2 on Labor’s slate, announced that he would be giving up his reserved spot and would consider running for the center-left party’s leadership.

In a text message to supporters, Russo said he entered politics “with the hope of changing and influencing, not in order to stick to a political appointment.”

“As a result of the dispersal of the Knesset and the reelection, I hereby relinquish my position as number two in the party and will consider running for the position of party chairman,” said Russo.

Russo’s Labor leadership run would likely be an uphill battle, given his public support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last-ditch offer for Labor to join his coalition.

Gabbay, who appointed the former head of the IDF’s Southern Command despite opposition from senior party officials, deliberated over Netanyahu’s proposal for several days before eventually turning it down late last Wednesday night after Channel 12 broke the story of his negotiations with the Likud leader.

On Sunday, Gabbay announced that the party will hold a vote for the chairmanship but not primaries for the rest of the ticket in the upcoming election.

Channel 12 news reported later that day that Gabbay had told associates that if he is not elected to be head of the party, he will not remain an MK.