Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan said that Israeli troops were paying the price for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “reckless” policies, two days after illegal Israeli settlers under army protection attacked the Palestinian town of Tal near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, said in a video posted on X on Sunday that Netanyahu’s policies, including the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service and what he described as “Jewish terrorism,” were exacting a heavy toll on Israeli soldiers.
“The Netanyahu-Bezalel Smotrich-Itamar Ben-Gvir government is abandoning Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank,” he said.
Golan concluded by saying: “Netanyahu, we are coming to replace you in the elections.”
On Saturday, Golan warned in a post on X that Netanyahu’s government was turning the occupied West Bank into a “powder keg” threatening Israel’s security.
‘Explosive reality’
He said the government of Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir was deliberately creating an “explosive reality” in the occupied West Bank.
He added that extremist settlers had for months been systematically provoking friction, fueling tensions and dragging the Israeli army and the country toward a wider confrontation.
On Friday, illegal Israeli settlers backed by the army attacked the Palestinian town of Tal, killing four Palestinians. Two Israelis were also killed in a shooting during the confrontation, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
Israeli forces also imposed a siege on Nablus and surrounding towns following the violence, carried out mass arrest raids and announced preparations for a wide-scale attacks across the occupied West Bank.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,182 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, wounded thousands and detained around 24,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
