BREAKING NEWS

Ya'alon backs deputy IDF chief against accusations he compared Israel to Nazis

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Thursday voiced his support for Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan who was accused by some right-wing politicians and social media users of comparing Israel to the Nazis in a speech he made for Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday.
"I have full belief in the Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan, an appreciated, principled and decorated fighter and commander," Ya'alon said.
Ya'alon, who has also come under fire for comments he made condemning the actions of an IDF soldier who shot a wounded and prone Palestinian terrorist in Hebron last month, criticized those attacking Golan.
"The attacks and rhetoric against him as a result of an intentional distortion of his words meaning, are yet another attempt in a worrying campaign to politically damage the IDF and its commanders," he said.
Speaking at a ceremony at Tel Yitzhak, Golan said Wednesday  that "the Holocaust should bring us to ponder our public lives and, furthermore, it must lead anyone who is capable of taking public responsibility to do so. Because if there is one thing that is scary in remembering the Holocaust, it is noticing horrific processes which developed in Europe – particularly in Germany – 70, 80, and 90 years ago, and finding remnants of that here among us in the year 2016."