Golan’s speech dominated the public discourse, and unfortunately, in some cases, overshadowed the actual meaning of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan walked back his statements linking present- day Israel and pre-war Nazi Germany on Wednesday, but it was too late; the reverberations went too far.
Golan’s speech dominated the public discourse, and unfortunately, in some cases, overshadowed the actual meaning of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The Holocaust should bring us to ponder our public lives and, furthermore, it must lead anyone who is capable of taking public responsibility to do so, because if there is one thing that is scary in remembering the Holocaust, it is noticing horrific processes which developed in Europe – particularly in Germany – 70, 80 and 90 years ago, and finding remnants of that here among us in the year 2016,” was the section of Golan’s speech that sparked the controversy.
Golan said he did not mean to compare Israel or the IDF to the Nazis. Yet the Nazis fall into the time frame he discussed. Even accepting his clarification, “Germany 70, 80, 90 years ago” was just too close for comfort to a Nazi comparison for many, especially on Holocaust Remembrance Day, when we’re mourning the six million Jews they murdered. The Holocaust is still an open wound for Jews around the world, and anything close to cheapening its memory is throwing salt in that wound. Continue reading
Lahav Harkov 
Given that Golan didn’t mean what the Western media interpreted him to say it made no sense for Netanyahu to respond as if they were right. His response only added to the impression that Golan indeed was comparing Israel to nazi Germany. Confusing situation to say the least