Yair Golan says Netanyahu lacks public trust to lead another Iran campaign

Yair Golan, chairman of the opposition party The Democrats, said on Sunday morning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not have the public trust needed to direct a further military campaign against Iran, and called for an alternative government to be put together quickly. Ynet reported that Golan also said Netanyahu lacks "moral legitimacy or basic capability" to run another round against Iran.

Golan framed his remarks as a warning. According to N12 political correspondent Dafna Liel, Golan said the likelihood of another campaign is rising and that he was sounding the alarm, against a backdrop of heightened tension with Iran. Ynet quoted him as saying Israel has reached a pattern of "repeated rounds" with Iran, which he described as a measure of how large Netanyahu's failure has been. He added that, in the meantime, Netanyahu, Katz and Ben Gvir hold the key posts, which he called a danger to Israel.

Who Yair Golan is

Golan is a retired general who served as deputy chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the country's military. He now heads The Democrats, a centre-left party created through the merger of the Labor Party and Meretz, two parties that historically represented the Israeli left. He has been one of the sharpest critics of the Netanyahu government from outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament, and his military background is often cited when he speaks on security matters.

The figures he named alongside Netanyahu are two senior members of the governing coalition. Israel Katz serves as defence minister, the cabinet post that oversees the IDF. Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, serves as national security minister, responsible for the police. The reports did not record Golan explaining why he singled out those two ministers beyond describing them as holding key positions.

What "another round" refers to

Golan's language about repeated rounds draws on the history of direct military exchanges between Israel and Iran in recent years, in which the two countries struck each other's territory openly rather than through proxies. The term "round" (in Hebrew, sevev) is commonly used in Israeli political and military discussion to describe a discrete bout of fighting that ends without a decisive outcome, after which another is expected. Golan's argument, as reported, is that the recurrence itself shows the strategy has not succeeded.

The reports describe the current period as one of tension with Iran. A Ynet news alert summarised Golan's message as a warning that the chance of a campaign against Iran is growing and that Netanyahu does not have the public's trust to manage it. None of the reports attributes any assessment of an imminent confrontation to the government or the military; the claim that the likelihood is rising is Golan's.

What an alternative government means

In Israel's parliamentary system, a government can be replaced in two broad ways: through new elections, or through a vote in the Knesset that installs a different coalition without an election. Golan's call to form an alternative government quickly is consistent with the opposition's long-standing demand that Netanyahu's coalition be replaced. The reports do not say which mechanism he had in mind, which parties he envisions in such a government, or who would lead it.

Opposition leaders have repeatedly argued that questions of public trust in the government bear on its ability to lead the country in wartime. Golan's remarks apply that argument specifically to a possible confrontation with Iran, which Israeli leaders across the political spectrum regard as the country's most serious strategic threat.

What the reports do not say

• Where Golan made the remarks: the reports do not identify whether he spoke in an interview, a statement or another setting.
• What prompted the warning: Golan said the chance of a campaign is rising, but the reports carry no specific development he cited as evidence.
• Any response from Netanyahu, Katz, Ben Gvir or the Prime Minister's Office: none is included.
• How an alternative government would be formed, which parties would join it and on what timetable.
• Whether Golan supports or opposes military action against Iran in principle: the reported remarks concern who should lead such a campaign, not whether it should happen.