Democrats Party chairman and former IDF Chief of Staff Yair Golan sparked nationwide outrage on Tuesday over outrageous and false statements he made in an interview.

Speaking on Kan Reshet Bet, Golan said: “Israel is on its way to becoming a pariah state among nations, like the South Africa of the past, if we don’t go back to acting like a sane country. A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not aim to expel populations.”

“These things are simply appalling, and it cannot be that we, the Jewish people, who were subjected to persecution and pogroms and acts of annihilation throughout our history, and who served throughout history as a moral compass of human and Jewish morality, are the ones taking steps that are simply unacceptable.”

He then slammed the members of the government, claiming: “It is full of types who have nothing to do with Judaism: Kahanist types, lacking in intelligence, lacking in morality, and lacking in the ability to manage a country in times of emergency. This is a dangerous thing for our very existence. And therefore, it is time to replace this government as quickly as possible so that this war will also come to an end.”

His words were met with outrage by politicians from the left to the right, with one politician deeming him a “terrorist” and others calling to open a criminal investigation against him and expel him from public life.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded by stating: “I strongly condemn Yair Golan’s reckless incitement against our heroic soldiers and against the State of Israel. The IDF is the most moral army in the world, and our soldiers are fighting in a battle for our very existence.”

“Golan, who encouraged army refusal in the past and compared Israel to the Nazis, has now reached a new low by claiming that Israel ‘kills babies as a hobby.’ While we are conducting a multi-front war and leading complex diplomatic efforts to release our hostages and defeat Hamas, Golan and his friends in the radical left are echoing the most despicable antisemitic blood libels against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel. There is no limit to the moral decay.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded on his X account: “Yair Golan’s blood libel against the State of Israel and its army – will not be forgiven. What Golan said will certainly fuel the fire of antisemitism in the world…while Israel is fighting for its life.”

Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman stated: “I condemn Yair Golan’s words. The IDF is the most moral army in the world, and any such false statement against it harms our soldiers and the security of the country.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote, without mentioning Golan’s name: “Our soldiers are heroes and protect our lives. The statement that they kill babies as a hobby is mistaken and a gift to our enemies. I back the IDF and its soldiers and condemn the statement.”

National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz responded: ” I call on Yair Golan to retract and apologize to IDF soldiers for his extreme and false statements. IDF soldiers do not ‘kill babies’ as a hobby. These words are not only outrageous, false, and extreme, but also endanger the freedom of our heroic fighters in the face of international law.”

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri stated: “We must not remain silent on the terrible blood libel against IDF soldiers, who are sacrificing their lives in the face of a cruel enemy. I call on the leaders of the opposition, Avigdor Lieberman and Benny Gantz, to unequivocally disavow Yair Golan and make it clear to the public that under no circumstances will they form a government with him.”

Likud MK Moshe Saada said: “This is the man Bennett and Lieberman want to form a coalition with. A dangerous and inciting person who harms the State of Israel and spreads a blood libel against IDF soldiers. Shameful.”

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz stated: “The statement by one of the heads of the opposition accusing IDF soldiers of ‘killing babies in Gaza as a hobby’ is a vile blood libel against IDF soldiers who risk their lives day and night in heroic battles against a cruel enemy to return all our hostages and to defeat Hamas, which is working to destroy the State of Israel.”

“The one who in the past compared Israeli society to the Nazi regime and is now slandering and defaming the State of Israel and the IDF in wartime – must be ostracized from public life. I am proud of our soldiers and fully support them.”

Education Minister Yoav Kisch wrote: “Shame on you, Yair Golan. Such slanders against the State of Israel are heard only from our worst enemies. Accusing our heroic fighters, who risk their lives for the country, of murdering babies is not criticism. It’s a blood libel and serious incitement. Golan is not a member of Knesset and has no immunity. I expect the Attorney General to open an investigation against him.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote: “From a decorated general to a BDS supporter in a few years—the story of Yair Golan and the Meretz party. Yair Golan knowingly lies, spreads evil rumors about Israel and the IDF in the world, and joins the blood libels of our greatest enemies to provide them with justification to kill us. Every Zionist, honest, moral, and ethical person must disavow Golan and his actions and make it clear that there are red lines that cannot be crossed.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated: ” It seems Yair Golan took the Hamas spokesman’s talking points and adopted them as his own. Golan’s only hobby has always been spreading anti-Semitic blood libels against the State of Israel. Yair, shame on you!”

“Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi responded: “Yair Golan is a terrorist. A terrorist to the efforts to realize the goals of the war. A terrorist to the security of IDF soldiers. A terrorist to Israeli democracy.”

Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer called for Golan to be put on trial: “It can’t be that someone who calls IDF soldiers murderers and so blatantly slanders the State of Israel remains immune from the law. I call on the Attorney General to act immediately and put Yair Golan on trial on suspicion of sedition, as required by law.”

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “The question is not how a retired general became a hostile element to the IDF, but how a person hostile to the IDF became a general…”

Bereaved father Itzik Buntzel, the father of Amit, H’yd, who fell in Gaza, responded: “Yair Golan, who commanded the same IDF that is fighting today in Gaza, accuses himself of genocide and the killing of babies. The man who still receives a hefty pension from the same army that he accuses of genocide. Golan’s statements are worse than 200 trucks of humanitarian aid. .בָּנָיִךְ מְהָרְסַיִךְ וּמַחֲרִבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵאוּ.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)