For activist, Israel's democratic values are under attack

For Nadav Bigelman of Breaking the Silence, the controversy over the general, the Holocaust, and his comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany does not reflect “a battle between the state and the army,” but is being used for political propaganda. Still, the country is moving to the right, and democratic values “are under attack”.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Nadav Bigelman, an Israeli activist with Breaking the Silence (BtS), an Israeli peace NGO, spoke to AsiaNews about the ongoing controversy in Israel over Major General Yair Golan's speech at the Massuah Institute, Kibbutz Tel Yitzhak, in central Israel.

On the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) on 4 May, the deputy chief of General Staff compared certain “nauseating processes” that occurred in Europe, “in Germany in particular, some 70, 80 and 90 years ago” to what he saw happening “here, among us, in 2016.”

For Bigleman, “what Yair Golan said, and the harsh response and critique” he received “from various corners” reflect how the political discourses in Israel have become very very difficult.”

Although the general's remarks were part of a broader speech, they sparked anger among Israeli politicians. Israel’s rightwing reacted angrily, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, calling for Golan's resignation.

Still, the BtS spokesman said he does not “think that it reflects a battle between the state and the army” but is a “political debate over the army” that is being “used by some politicians as a platform for political gain.”

In this sense, it is like the case of the Israeli soldier who executed a wounded Palestinian attacker, with politicians trying to use the incident for political propaganda purposes.

Nadav Bigelman served as an infantry combat soldier in the Territories. At present, he is an activist with BsT, a group of Israeli veterans who took on the task of exposing “the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life" in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

“I am not an historian so it's hard for me to comment directly to what he [Golan] said. But I believe that Israel is unfortunately going more and more to the right. Racism, with the direct and indirect support of many political leaders, has become very high.” Recent “attacks against BtS and other human right organisations and activists is a very bad sign for the Israeli democracy.”

"There is no doubt that our current government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is the most extreme right-wing government that we ever had,” the activist said. This “takes us to a very problematic place where democracy and its values are under attacks.”