Journalist Ilanit Linor Criticizes Yair Golan for Excluding Einav Tsengauker from Democrats List

The controversy over the removal of Einav Tsengauker from the reserved spot on the Democrats party list continues to spark sharp reactions in Israeli political and media circles. Journalist and presenter Ilanit Linor sharply criticized the party chairman, Yair Golan, in an opinion piece for Israel Hayom, analyzing his motives for the decision. Linor suggested, with irony, that Tsengauker may have been sidelined because she is a Mizrahi from Ofakim rather than an Ashkenazi physics professor. She also speculated that Golan might have wanted to avoid changing the list after the primaries or that he simply did not want another representative from what she called "the underground parking lot of the soul."

Linor did not spare Golan himself, recalling several controversial past statements by him. She noted Golan’s identification of Nazi-like processes in Israeli society, which he aired during a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony while in uniform. She also mentioned his participation in protests against Sarah Netanyahu’s hairdresser and his harsh language toward settlers in Homesh, including calling them "subhumans" and contributing to global antisemitism with the phrase "a sane country does not kill babies as a hobby." Linor described Golan as someone who, when given a microphone, "sprays it with a flood of muddy water," contrasting him with Tsengauker, who does not boast about cleaning toilets. She added that while other Democrats members are similar, Golan is the ideological leader and only manages to express himself mildly in writing, such as when apologizing to Tsengauker for breaking a promise.

Linor also addressed the general atmosphere within the Democrats party, which she said is overflowing with protest activists whose harsh, violent, and destructive style has been cultivated in the media, courts, and academia. She argued these activists are not labeled as lawbreakers or agitators but are given media exposure, hospitality, and sometimes legal leniency. She concluded with a pointed question, suggesting Golan might have realized the party does not need another member lacking emotional control and restraint, or that he does not want competition in that area.