Retired General Nimrod Sheffer Says Israel Must Return the IDF to a Moral Path

Retired IDF major general Nimrod Sheffer, who is running on the Democrats party list for the Knesset, said the army has been changed by racism and hatred in Israeli society and no longer behaves as a moral force. He was defending his party leader, retired major general Yair Golan, after Golan said in a May 19, 2025 interview on Kan Reshet Bet that “a sane state does not kill babies as a hobby.”

In that interview, Golan warned that Israel was heading toward becoming an outcast among nations, “like South Africa once was,” unless it returned to acting like “a sane state.” He said such a state does not wage war against civilians, kill babies for sport, or set goals of expelling a population.

Sheffer then posted a video on X in which he accused IDF soldiers of killing a Palestinian baby with a headshot. “Look at this face. His name was Sam. He was seven months old, and he was killed by a bullet to the head from an IDF soldier. Now look at this footage, where you can see IDF soldiers not helping the baby who was wounded, and you will understand that Yair Golan was right,” Sheffer said.

Sheffer added that the army he served in for 37 years is no longer the one he knew. He said, “This is not the IDF I served in for 37 years. This is not how the most moral army in the world behaves. This is not how any moral army behaves, and this is not how the Israel Defense Forces behave.” He argued that extremism in Israeli society has seeped into the military through what he described as contempt for human life and lax rules of engagement.

Addressing voters, Sheffer promised to help “save” the IDF from these dangerous trends. “We will rescue the IDF, stop the loss of direction and get back on a human path,” he said, adding that the goal is to live “in peace and security.” He ended by saying, “We are marching on the Rabin path. Come march with us.”