By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The leader of a far-left Israeli political party who last week sparked two separate controversies and drew allegations of antisemitism walked back one of his claims over the weekend.

Last Tuesday, Yair Golan, the chief of The Democrats party – a merger of the left-wing Labor Party and the far-left Meretz faction – spoke on Kan Reshet Bet radio, claiming the Israeli military kills “babies as a hobby.”

“These things are simply shocking, and it cannot be that we – the state of the Jewish people, who have been subjected to persecution and pogroms throughout history – are the ones taking actions that are simply unconscionable.”

Golan, a former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff who in 2016 compared Israel to Nazi Germany prior to the Holocaust, came under fire from not only the Netanyahu government, but the Opposition and the IDF as well.

Later that day, Golan doubled down on the comments, saying he was “not afraid of the poisonous machine,” referring to his critics.

After a far-left gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington D.C. Wednesday night, Golan responded to accusations that his comments had fueled antisemitism abroad by blaming the Netanyahu government, claiming it was indirectly responsible for the shooting.

A poll published on Wednesday by Walla suggested Golan and his The Democrats party were facing a backlash over his comments on the IDF, with 59% of Israeli Jews and Arabs saying his accusations “crossed a red line,” while just 25% said they were legitimate criticism.

Even among supporters of the Opposition, less than half (40%) defended Golan’s comments as “legitimate criticism,” compared to 44% who said they unacceptable.

On Friday, a poll published by the Hebrew daily Ma’ariv found that support for Golan’s party had dropped by 25% since last week, sinking from 16 seats to 12 – the lowest figure for the Ma’ariv poll since February.

A day later, in an interview with Israel’s Meet the Press on Saturday night, Golan walked back his charges against the Israeli military, claiming his accusations were in fact directed against the government.

“Of course Israel does not kill babies for fun,” Golan said.

“Israel has not committed war crimes in Gaza. My comments were directed at the political leadership. The goal of the war is political. Hamas has been militarily defeated — the war should be brought to an end and all hostages released in one decisive move.”

The former minister reiterated his charges of war crimes against senior Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“I don’t recall Smotrich or Ben Gvir ever being asked to apologize for their words. It cannot be that we are renewing the fighting in Gaza while the political objectives are shaped by people with such a worldview. As a professional — war should be against those who threaten Israel. If Israel values life, it cannot preach the murder of civilians.”

Golan also said that calls to starve Gazans were unacceptable during the war.

However, the former lawmaker defended his own calls to “starve [Gazans] to death,” when the cohost of the show cited an October 13th, 2023 interview Golan gave to Yedioth Aharanoth.

“First of all, shut off the [electrical] fuses to Gaza,” Golan said in the 2023 interview. “I think that in this war, we must not allow any humanitarian [aid] efforts. We need to tell [Gazans]: Listen, so long as [the hostages] are not released, as far as we are concerned, you can starve to death. That is absolutely legitimate.”

Golan argued that his comments, made less than a week after the Hamas invasion, were justified in 2023, while similar comments made later by members of the Coalition were not.