Yair Golan, a reserve major general in the Israel Defense Forces and the leader of The Democrats, warned on Army Radio today, as reported by Haaretz that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would launch military actions against Iran to further his political goals, saying the prime minister lacks the legitimacy to lead a renewed round of attacks, and urged a quick formation of a new government in light of the election results. “The likelihood of another campaign against Iran is increasing,” Golan wrote. “We have reached a situation of repeated rounds of fighting with Iran—that is how great Netanyahu’s failure has been. Netanyahu does not have the public trust required to lead such a campaign, nor the moral legitimacy or basic capability.”
Golan continued: “Netanyahu is going to take us into another war with his personal and political considerations guiding him. He is abandoning the lives of civilians, soldiers, and pilots. Are we prepared to let a man who promised total victory over the Iranians take us into another round of fighting in Iran? If Netanyahu remains in power, it is a national danger—more and more people will simply leave.”
He also addressed the formation of a new government, in an alliance with the Arab parties. He said that the opposition bloc, of which his “The Democrats” is one of the four parties, holds a clear and decisive majority of 67 seats to 53 along with the Arab parties, and that he intends to work to secure a government based on that majority. “The chances of forming a government are very high. We are determined, and we will form a government,” he said.
Golan said a coalition could be based on a partnership with Mansour Abbas’ United Arab List, alongside external support from the Joint List. “Even if it is not the most stable arrangement in the world at first, it can stabilize over time. Mansour Abbas has no ambition to be part of the security cabinet, and there has never been any restriction on Israel’s use of force as a result of its partnership with him—that is inventing a problem that does not exist. He understands the constraints and has no desire to challenge the system,” Golan said.
Yesterday, Gadi Eisenkot, former IDF Chief of Staff and the head of the opposition coalition, said in a statement that he would scrutinize any military action before the new government is sworn in and would support one only “as a response to direct and immediate threats against Israel that cannot wait.”