Eliezer and Sarah Rosenfeld
Eliezer and Sarah RosenfeldHadas Parush/Flash90

Eliezer Rosenfeld, a bereaved father who added his signature to the letter of the bereaved families against the appointment of Major General Yair Golan to the position of IDF Chief of Staff, explained his opposition to the appointment of the general to the senior position of the IDF.

At the start of his conversation with Arutz Sheva, Rosenfeld noted that Golan is an esteemed officer who has contributed greatly to the country's security, but his past statements reflect inappropriate positions.

Rosenfeld recalled Golan's speech during the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in 2016, when Golan said, "“If there is something that scares me about the memory of the Holocaust, it is the identification of horrifying processes that occurred in Europe in general and Germany in particular - 70, 80 and 90 years ago - and finding evidence of them here among us today."

According to the bereaved father: "In a time when we are fighting the Palestinians who come to destroy us, how can a senior commander in the army compare the reality of today or even say that there are sparks of signs indicating our comparison to the Nazis?"

"What Jew wanted to destroy Germany?" he asked. "Did the Jews in Europe do anything but do good and live in peace? How can we reach such a comparison?

Another statement attributed to Yair Golan was made toward the end of 2006. Golan spoke with students of the pre-military preparatory program and expressed his opposition to the killing of Arabs who are not involved in terror even at the price of harm to IDF soldiers.

Rosenfeld responded to this statement and wondered:, "Why do I have to spare a mother who rejoices when her son commits suicide? Why do our soldiers need to spare their lives?"

"Has anyone in Syria spared someone's life? I do not want statements. We're moral enough, more than enough. Whoever expresses that we have to take a risk until the terrorist explodes on us and then shoot him - it's distorted. No country will agree to such a situation. We have lost what is dear to us at times because of situations in which our soldiers reacted too late and did not open fire.

Rosenfeld stated that in the shooting attack in which his son Malachi was killed, an armed officer was present, but did not know whether he was allowed to open fire.

"We, as bereaved parents, are trying to open the eyes of our brothers in the House of Israel, open our eyes to see the reality and the real trends of the enemies who sit within us," Rosenfeld said.