In his weekly column in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, senior journalist Nahum Barnea commented on Deputy Chief of Staff General Yair Golan’s controversial comments comparing Nazi Germany to Israel.
Barnea found nothing amiss with Golan’s controversial comments but chose to criticize the fact that a senior army officer was chosen to address a Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony. “I do not understand why an army general needs to speak at a ceremony that has no relevance to the army. The IDF should deal with security. It is a subject of the up most importance to the Israeli society, it is a dominant theme.”
“It extends from the operations room in Ein Zeitim to the textile factory in Dimona, from the Hevron soldier shooting to the security relationship with the United States, from the tunnels in Gaza to the stabbings in Gush Etziyon, from illegal outposts in the Shiloh Valley to ISIS and Iran. All the things that the Chief of Staff or his deputy have to say regarding those issues is important, worthy and interesting. However, the proper functioning of society, religious and moral values, and the understanding of the Holocaust, should be left to citizens.”
Barnea, recalled the uproar caused after a Givati Brigade Commander made religious statements during Operation Protective Edge. “When Givati Brigade Commander Col. Ofer Winter told his soldiers to fight in the name of the Lord’s army, many good people were alarmed. Winter was confused: He did not understand who sent him to this task and where his orders came from. He was not the only one confused. Perhaps in ten years the entire General Staff will be like a Winter. We must take preventive measures.”
“The IDF should be everyone’s army, and not an army for a handful of Messianic rabbis or emissaries of the Jewish Home party. The right-wing settlers follow this. It is no wonder they leaped on Golan’s speech. Bennett attacked from behind, and a bunch of right-wing twitter journalists pushed forward. One of them said that Golan was fit to be deputy chief of staff in the Wehrmacht (unified armed forces of Nazi Germany),” Barnea concluded.
