Israeli government and opposition leaders condemned on Tuesday a left-wing politician, Yair Golan, after he said in a radio interview that “a sane country … does not kill babies for a hobby”.
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“Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah state among the nations – like the South Africa of old – if it does not return to behaving like a sane country,” said Golan, chairman of Israel’s Democrats party.
“A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies for a hobby, and does not set goals involving the expulsion of populations,” he told Israel’s Kan public radio.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Golan, a former major general in the military, of “wild incitement” against Israeli troops and of “echoing the most despicable anti-Semitic blood libels against the [Israeli army] and the State of Israel.”
Golan also drew condemnation from government critics, with opposition leader Yair Lapid saying in a post on social media: “Our fighters are heroes and are defending our lives. The statement that they kill children as a hobby is incorrect and is a gift to our enemies”.
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Education Minister Yoav Kisch, of Netanyahu’s party, called for an investigation for incitement into Golan, whose party is a coalition of several left-wing factions.
