“I’m not sure Israel is a democratic state”: former Israeli army chief

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Former Israeli army deputy chief of staff, Yair Golan, said that he is “not sure Israel is a democratic state anymore.”

In an interview with the Guardian at the Knesset last month, Golan, who heads Israel’s new center-left party The Democrats, said, “Our vision is a two-state solution.”

“But right now, we are a nation in trauma. People lost their sense of security. People do not trust the IDF to protect them.”

Israeli politics has changed, Golan said. “I’m not sure whether Israel right now is truly a democratic state any more … It is not a question of left or right any more: these titles are meaningless.”

“The right today in Israel is people who think we can annex millions of Palestinians, and Israel should adopt some sort of policy of revenge, that we can live by our swords and not attempt to reconcile with the Palestinians or any other hostile entity in the region. I think 180 degrees the opposite.”

According to Golan, Israel must maintain freedom of action in the Gaza Strip and across the West Bank for the near future, all while forming so-called islands of stability and an alternative to Hamas that would be established through a joint effort by the United States and moderate Arab nations.

This alternative, Golan added, should be based on the Palestinian Authority.

Golan said that Israel should be “proactive militarily,” but it also must have a political vision.

This process may take years, he says. He stressed that the challenges facing Israel require it to work closely with its allies and not jeopardize relations with them. “We need the rest of the world with us,” he said.