EXCLUSIVE: ‘We’ll bring Israel and the UK back together’

The leader of Israel’s Democrats Party, Yair Golan, has told Jewish News that victory for the wider anti-government coalition in next month’s election will lead to getting Israel “back on track”, and enable the state’s new leadership to “restore its international standing” and repair relations with the UK.

Golan, a former deputy chief of staff in the IDF and a major general in the country’s reserves, managed in 2024 to unite the country’s longstanding centre-left party, Labour, with the more left-wing Meretz Party, forming a united bloc.

He received plaudits within Israel in the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 terror attack, when his reaction was to don his uniform, grab a weapon and drive south to help rescue those attempting to escape death or imprisonment at the hands of Hamas.

Speaking exclusively to Jewish News two weeks after UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced co-ordinated international sanctions against West Bank settlements, he said: “In the West Bank, Israel must halt steps toward annexation and act decisively against Jewish terrorism and violence against Palestinians, to prevent further deterioration and an explosion that could endanger Israeli security. In both Gaza and the West Bank that means working with Palestinian leadership to replace Hamas”.

The soldier and politician spoke bitterly about the actions of the current government, saying: “This government is leading Israel down a dangerous path, turning it into an isolated and internationally ostracised country. This weakens our national security, at a time when we need to strengthen it by working with regional and international partners”.

But Golan also sounded a note of optimism, as he believed that “once we put Israel back on track, we can also restore its international standing, and repair relations with allies, and with countries whose ties with Israel have been damaged in recent years, because of the current government’s policies. Democratic and liberal Israel is part of the family of democratic nations around the world”.

In the last few weeks, Golan has launched legal action in response to a conspiracy theory aired on television by Sara Netanyahu, the wife of the Israeli Prime Minister, who suggested that his response to 7 October came as a result of some prior knowledge of what was going to happen.

He told Jewish News that he could not stand aside from taking her to court at the same time as his party was campaigning for the 27 October elections. He said: “The poison machine has been spreading lies, incitement and poisonous rhetoric against political opponents for far too long. We cannot simply stand by and remain silent in the face of such a campaign. Sometimes you have to act, set a boundary and defend public discourse and people who are harmed by the dissemination of lies and incitement”.

Golan made it clear that his party would only go into government with those who had not been in the governing coalition on 7 October 2023. He said: “The next government, of which we intend to be a part, must be made up of parties that were not part of the 7 October government. Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman are all potential future partners. For us, the test will be the ability to form a government that can deliver meaningful change and repair — and take Israel off the dangerous path on which the current government has set it”.

He added: “When we enter the next government, we will work to put Israel back on the path of being a sane, democratic and strong country, working for security, stability and prosperity across our region, and connected to the family of liberal and democratic nations around the world”.

Mr Netanyahu has been prime minister for more than 19 years over three separate periods. It has often been said that he keeps getting re-elected, not only because of a collective amnesia by Israeli society, but because the peace camp can’t get its act together. Why is this time any different, Golan is asked. What will get Netanyahu out of office and the centre-left over the line?

He replied: “Since 7 October, the people of Israel have been expressing themselves clearly and decisively. Support for the current government has fallen to unprecedented lows, and rightly so. The public understands that this government has failed and that profound change is needed.

“I believe this is an opportunity to replace the current government with a government of change and repair, a government that will put Israel back on track and restore responsibility, professionalism and effective governance to the heart of decision-making”.

Among Golan’s strongest criticisms of the Netanyahu government, was in May 2025, saying that Israel risked becoming an international pariah state. He stated then: “A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.” 

He clarified these remarks by saying they were directed solely at Netanyahu’s government — which he accused of celebrating the death and starvation of children — and not at IDF soldiers or the military itself.

He had previously been strongly critical of the behaviour of the IDF combat medic Elor Azaria, who in 2016 shot dead a Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli soldier in Hebron. Azaria received a presidential pardon from Isaac Herzog on Saturday night, nearly a decade after the case, which became a left-right flashpoint in Israel.

Explaining his decision to go into politics after the Azaria event, Golan declared: “After serving my country for 38 years in uniform, I saw processes unfolding that worried me deeply. As deputy chief of staff of the IDF in 2016, I spoke about hatred, extremism and polarisation in our society, and the need for responsible leadership. I could not simply stand on the side-lines. I felt that I had to take responsibility and act in order to influence the direction in which the country was heading”.

He said his harsh criticism “of the government and its members remains unchanged… When we enter the next government, we will work to put Israel back on the path of being a sane, democratic and strong country, working for security, stability and prosperity across our region, and connected to the family of liberal and democratic nations around the world”.

So what is first in Yair Golan’s in-tray on October 28, if Netanyahu is defeated?

He said: “The first thing we will need to do is restore a clear strategic direction to the state of Israel. For years, the current government has tried to ‘manage’ the conflict. If conflicts are not addressed and resolved, they persist and deepen. That is what happened when Netanyahu preferred to weaken the Palestinian leadership and strengthen Hamas with suitcases of Qatari money. 

“Rather than empty slogans about ‘total victory’, we need to move from being reactive to taking [the] initiative — shaping our reality and strengthening our long-term security. That was always at the heart of Israel’s strategic thinking, and it needs to be so again. 

“That is why we will work to advance a broad regional initiative that strengthens moderate forces in the region, weakens terrorist organisations and isolates Iran. The goal is to translate Israel’s military achievements into diplomatic achievements, and to create a more stable regional reality. Our long-standing peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan are essential to our national security. The Abraham Accords brought UAE, Bahrain and Morocco into that circle. I see potential for further states to join — in the Gulf, our northern neighbours Syria and Lebanon, and, eventually, Saudi Arabia.

“At the same time, Israel needs to bring the fighting in the various arenas — Gaza, Lebanon and Syria — to an end, in a way that protects Israel’s security and prevents the threats that led to the war, from returning. We will also work to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“The goal is not to compromise Israel’s security, but the opposite — to build stable and sustainable security for generations to come. Israel can be a safe, strong and prosperous country that leads the region, rather than being dragged along by events”.