Yair Golan: "If I get 15 mandates - I will be the Minister of Defense"

A week after his party completed its first primaries since the merger between Labor and Meretz, the chairman of The Democrats, Yair Golan, said today (Monday) at the national security conference of Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, in collaboration with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), that if his party wins 15 mandates in the elections, he expects to serve as Minister of Defense in the next government.

Alongside this, Golan identified a series of other portfolios that his party will seek to receive, including Justice, Education, Communications, and the Ministry of Internal Security. "If we get 15 mandates, then I also believe that I will be the Minister of Defense, but that is not what is important right now," he said. According to him, The Democrats have identified "a group of ministries that look after internal security and the resilience of Israel as a democracy." He added: "We talked about the Ministry of Justice, about the Ministry of Internal Security — not National Security — about the Ministry of Education and about the Ministry of Communications, as a package that tells the public that there is a party here that has come to fight for security and for democracy."

Golan assessed that in the current political situation, Gadi Eisenkot is the leading candidate of the anti-Netanyahu bloc for Prime Minister. "As things look right now, Eisenkot will be the natural candidate," he said, but emphasized that the decision will depend on the balance of power after the elections. "Whoever leads the largest party in the bloc should lead the next government. In order for this to be a government of change and real correction, we need large and strong Democrats, with 15 mandates or more."

In the interview, Golan presented his vision for Judea and Samaria, saying that Israel must choose between annexing millions of Palestinians and separating from them. "I, like Ariel Sharon, think that we need to separate from the Palestinians, because the alternative of annexation is unbearable," he said. According to him, the first steps of the next government should include fighting Palestinian and Jewish terror, restoring law and order to Judea and Samaria, evacuating all illegal outposts, and starting to mark the future borders. "If we want a Jewish and democratic state, it must be with a solid Jewish majority. There will not be such a majority if we annex five million Palestinians into us."

Golan claimed that he would also be able to convince Eisenkot, Bennett, and Lieberman to support separation steps. According to him, he has spoken with Eisenkot about the subject in the past in security contexts, and he estimates that the other possible partners will also understand the need for it.

The chairman of The Democrats said that he was not invited to a meeting with the head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, even though he was his commander in the past in the Northern Command. He harshly criticized his performance so far, and claimed that he failed in handling the Qatari affair and Jewish terror in Judea and Samaria. "When Zini took office, I said that his two big tests are the investigation of the Qatari affair and a stubborn fight against Jewish terror, which threatens to ignite the area and cause a third intifada. In my opinion, he failed in these two challenges." Golan added that now Zini faces a third test — maintaining free and equal elections — and said: "I hope he will change his habit of failing in tasks and will bring great success in holding the elections."