File photo: Yair Golan holds a press conference in Tel Aviv.
"Israel is on the path to becoming a pariah state among the nations -- like the South Africa of old -- if it does not return to behaving like a sane country," said Golan, chairman of Israel's Democrats party.
"A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies for a hobby, and does not set goals involving the expulsion of populations," he told Israel's Kan public radio.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Golan of "wild incitement" against Israeli troops and of "echoing the most despicable anti-Semitic blood libels against the (Israeli army) and the State of Israel."
Golan also drew condemnation from members of the opposition, with opposition leader Yair Lapid writing in a post on X: "Our fighters are heroes and are defending our lives. The statement that they kill children as a hobby is incorrect and is a gift to our enemies".
Education Minister Yoav Kisch called for an investigation into incitement in Golan, whose party is a coalition of several left-wing factions.
Golan is a vocal opponent of Netanyahu's government and its policies.
In November 2024, he accused Netanyahu of putting his own political interests before the country's following his decision to dismiss former minister of defence Yoav Gallant.
Golan, the former military’s deputy chief of staff, who donned his uniform the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza to join the fight has previously slikened the atmosphere in Israel to that of Nazi-era Germany.
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