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Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan said Sunday that Israeli soldiers were paying the price for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “reckless” policies, two days after Israeli settlers protected by the army attacked the Palestinian town of Tal near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, said in a video posted on the U.S. social media platform X that the government’s policies were taking a heavy toll on Israeli troops.
He cited exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service and what he described as “Jewish terrorism.”
“The Netanyahu-Bezalel Smotrich-Itamar Ben-Gvir government is abandoning Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank,” Golan said.
He ended the video by addressing Netanyahu directly.
“Netanyahu, we are coming to replace you in the elections,” he said.
In a separate post on X on Saturday, Golan warned that Netanyahu’s government was turning the occupied West Bank into a “powder keg” that threatened Israel’s security.
He accused the government led by Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of deliberately creating an “explosive reality” in the territory.
Golan said extremist settlers had spent months systematically provoking confrontations, increasing tensions and drawing the Israeli army and the country toward a wider conflict.
On Friday, Israeli settlers backed by the army attacked the Palestinian town of Tal, killing four Palestinians, according to Palestinian sources.
Two Israelis were also killed in a shooting during the confrontation, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
Israeli forces later imposed a siege on Nablus and surrounding towns, conducted mass arrest raids and announced preparations for a wide-scale military operation across the occupied West Bank.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,182 Palestinians in the West Bank, injured thousands and detained around 24,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
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