Netanya, Israel – Facing a backlash from right-wing politicians and social media users for comments made during ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, the army’s deputy chief of staff sought to clarify on Thursday that he had no intention of comparing Israel or the IDF with Nazi Germany.
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The brouhaha was ignited on Wednesday evening by Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan, who said during a speech at Kibbutz Tel Yitzhak that he had noticed “horrific trends” in present-day Israel that were reminiscent of what took place in the period just before the ascent of the Third Reich.
“I had no intention of comparing the IDF and the State of Israel with things that went on during the Nazi period,” the officer is quoted as saying by Army Radio. “The comparison is absurd and lacks any foundation, and there was no intent to draw such a parallel or to criticize the civilian leadership.”
Education Minister Naftali Bennett late Wednesday called on the deputy chief of staff to “correct” his statements.
In a brief comment which was posted on his Twitter account, Bennett wrote: “Just before Holocaust deniers take these errant words [spoken by Golan] and make them part of their banners; Just before our soldiers are compared to Nazis, God forbid, with legitimacy [from the deputy chief of staff]; the deputy chief of staff erred. He should immediately correct [his remarks].”
Bennett’s colleague, Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, took to Twitter and denounced Golan.
“What frightens me are distorted, baseless comparisons that injure the memory of the Holocaust, particularly when they are made by important people like the deputy chief of staff,” Smotrich tweeted.
Golan found a sympathetic ear on the center-left, with Zionist Union head and opposition chief Isaac Herzog praising him for his comments.
On his Twitter account, Herzog wrote: “The deputy chief of staff is a courageous commander. The disturbed people who will now begin to scream against him need to know: This is how morality and responsibility sound. We will not be frightened by screams and epithets, and we will continue to back the IDF and its commanders.”
Maybe next time the General won’t write his speech five minutes before showtime on a tissue outside the venue. Because this is what happens when you don’t come prepared.
Morality, I love it. What morality? The morality of Europe?
Beware of dumb generals bearing flowers! Fire him! Better yet, deport him to Gaza.!
so when the IDF chief of stadd Eizenkot, defense minister Yaalon and now this fellow attack IDF soldiers it gives power to the BDS movement, shows what happens when you take a “jewish” movement and remove the Torah from it.
What’s with these secular Jews? Are they all so self-hating and intolerant of Israel and Jews in general? Bitter Sanders, who hopefully will be off the air for good, is no better.
All of you know nothings should read The Coming of The Third Reich by Richard J. Evans. The General’s original comment in context was not wrong.
The right wing’s growing intolerance of any political dissent, the charge that dissenters are “self-hating Jews,” frum demonstrators holding up signs saying “Kill Them All” – indeed, frightfully reminiscent of the “horrific trends” that were in the Weimar brew in the late 1920s.
But there again…you’d argue that intolerance and hate-mongering are just fine, provided that the perpetrator’s are frum Jews like yourselves, right?