Something odd is happening to a select number of Israel’s former leaders after they leave power. Some seem to lose all sense of proportion—and, in some cases, their grip on reality.
Take Ehud Olmert. Once Prime Minister, he recently compared Israel’s proposed “humanitarian city” for displaced Gazans to a concentration camp. A Jewish leader, a former Prime Minister, equated Israel’s efforts to create a safe zone for Palestinian Arab civilians with the industrial genocide machine of Nazi Germany. By doing this he played right into the hands of those who aim to compare Israeli’s to Nazis. Olmert seems to have lost his marbles.
To quote him directly, in an interview with The Guardian: “When they build a camp where they [plan to] ‘clean’ more than half of Gaza, then the inevitable understanding… is not to save [Palestinians]. It is to deport them.” He added that it would be “an expression of a concentration camp.”
Does he not realize the damage he is doing? To compare this tent city to a concentration camp is not only grotesquely false, it’s profoundly offensive. It cheapens the unique historical horror of the Holocaust and plays straight into the hands of Israel’s fiercest critics, who constantly look for ways to accuse the Jewish state of Nazi-like behavior.
Unfortunately Olmert (who was sentenced to six years in prison after leaving office for accepting bribes and for obstruction of justice during his terms as mayor of Jerusalem and as trade minister and was released on parole in July 2017) is not alone. So what’s going on with some of these former generals and prime ministers? Why are they saying such wild things?
Former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan, who now leads a small left-wing party called “The Democrats”, claimed on Kan radio: “A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby…” Huh? Does he believe that, or is he cynically playing politics without realizing the implications of his words. Is he such a fool and doesn’t realize that that kind of rhetoric doesn’t stay in Israel. It ends up on posters at anti-Israel rallies in London, New York, and university campuses worldwide.
Former Defense Minister Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon has also lashed out at the IDF’s strategy in Gaza and implied the army was engaging in a type of ethnic cleansing. Ehud Barak went even further—years ago warning that if Israel didn’t find a two-state solution, it would become “an apartheid state”. That line is now one of the central talking points of those who falsely claim Israel is practicing apartheid. (Barak also blatantly encouraged civil war in Israel.)
What unites all of these men? They were once considered competent leaders, at least by their voters. They commanded armies, led governments, made real decisions under pressure. And yet, once out of power, they have embraced extreme rhetoric.
I don’t believe Ehud Olmert is evil. I don’t even think he’s a fool. Which is why his latest comments are so perplexing. He hasn’t become a villain—but maybe he has gone mad.
It’s as if once the weight of leadership is gone, some of our former leaders become intoxicated by the applause of international media and anti-government circles. Or maybe they just want relevance back. Or they are so jealous of Netanyahu's successes and are so eager to have him gone, that they lose self-control. Either way, their words now do real harm.
Building a protected civilian area in Gaza is not the same as herding people into Nazi death camps. And saying so isn’t brave—it’s disgraceful.
The plan for a “humanitarian zone” in Gaza can be scrutinized—but do it without invoking the Holocaust. Don’t throw around terms like “concentration camp” when talking about a proposal to shield civilians from Hamas and IDF crossfire. That’s not them being fair to the conversation, that’s recklessness, arrogance, and shortsightedness.
The only “cleansing” going on is the attempt to separate Hamas terrorists from innocent civilians. And if the endgame includes giving some Gazans the choice to resettle in other Arab countries or elsewhere? That’s not genocide. That’s diplomacy. That’s regional problem-solving.
It’s time these former leaders (called the Hebrew equivalent of "has-beens" by Israelis, but loved by foreign media) get a grip and realize their words are not exclusively for consumption in Israel, They have far reaching consequences way beyond domestic political considerations. They must practice restraint—even if they no longer carry the burden of office.
If they can’t tell the difference between saving lives and mass murder, then yes—maybe they’ve truly lost their marbles.
Daniel Rosenis the Co-founder of a Non-profit Technology company called Emissary4all which is an app to organize people on social media by ideology not geography . He is the Co-host of the podcast "Recalibration".
