Far-left party chief blames Netanyahu government for deadly Washington shooting

Former IDF deputy chief of staff and chairman of the far-left The Democrats party blames Israeli government for antisemitism, including the deadly shooting attack in Washington, DC.

By World Israel News Staff

A far-left Israeli political leader who recently came under fire after he accused Israeli soldiers of murdering children in the Gaza Strip “as a hobby” sparked controversy again on Thursday morning when he blamed the Israeli government for antisemitism abroad, including the deadly shooting attack on two embassy staffers.

Yair Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff who heads the left-wing The Democrats party, earlier this week spoke on Kan Reshet Bet radio, claiming the Israeli military kills “babies as a hobby.”

“These things are simply shocking, and it cannot be that we – the state of the Jewish people, who have been subjected to persecution and pogroms throughout history – are the ones taking actions that are simply unconscionable.”

Golan’s comments drew condemnation from the IDF, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior coalition members, as well as some members of the Opposition.

After two Israeli embassy staffers were gunned down in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night by a radical left-wing, anti-Israel activist, Israeli government figures suggested Golan’s rhetoric was partly to blame.

“We are witness to the terrible cost of the antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. Blood libels against Israel have a cost in blood and must be fought to the utmost,” Netanyahu said, without mentioning Golan by name.

Other ministers, however, including Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, explicitly accused Golan of fueling antisemitism abroad.

“Yair Golan’s blood libels are echoed by Nazis and Israel haters around the world,” Eliyahu tweeted. “We’re now paying the price with the murderous terror attack in Washington and history teaches us that we will pay more down the line. Yair, the blood of the embassy employees is on your hands and on those of your friends.”

Golan pushed back on the accusations, writing on X that it is the Netanyahu government, not his comments, that have fueled antisemitism.

“Netanyahu’s Kahane Chai government is the one fueling antisemitism and hatred toward Israel, resulting in unprecedented political isolation and danger to every Jew at every point across the globe,” Golan said, referring to the Otzma Yehudit party, whose chairman once considering himself a follower of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane.

“We will replace them and restore security to every Jew—in Israel and everywhere in the world,” he said.