Yair Golan condemns Naor Narkis over remarks on religious soldiers

Yair Golan, chair of The Democrats, publicly denounced activist Naor Narkis on Sunday after Narkis sparked a major outcry with comments about soldiers from the religious Zionist sector. In a response to Ynet, Golan said the remarks were “disgraceful” and “do not reflect the values of the party or mine.”

The controversy began after Narkis, who is expected to run in his party’s upcoming Knesset primary, said in an interview that if soldiers from the religious Zionist camp had done full military service like secular Israelis, “maybe they would not have fallen so many.” He argued that hesder yeshiva students, who serve on shortened terms, do not gain the same battlefield experience as other fighters.

Narkis, who describes himself as a secular activist seeking to secularize the Jewish public and frequently posts against religious and ultra-Orthodox people online, also said that “the religious are not at all nationalists” and claimed they are “the most draft dodging sector except for the ultra-Orthodox.” He compared a soldier with 18 months of hesder service to a secular soldier who serves three years, saying the former is less experienced.

The comments drew sharp criticism, including from former minister and MK Matan Kahana, who called the remarks “ugly” and urged Golan to condemn them. Golan did so, saying fallen soldiers “do not need to justify themselves to anyone,” that there are no sector labels on the battlefield, and that political debates about Israeli society and burden-sharing must be held “outside cemeteries.” He added that the duty is to remember the dead, embrace their families, and never blame the fallen for their deaths.