JERUSALEM: Israeli left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan called on Monday for an immediate end to the Gaza war and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government no longer represented most Israelis.
“Today the government of Israel does not represent the vast majority of Israelis,” said Golan, chairman of the Democrats party and a former deputy army chief, days before a planned parliament vote which the opposition hopes would trigger a general election.
He told journalists in a briefing that after more than 20 months of fighting, Israel “should end the war as soon as possible.”
Golan’s party, a conglomeration of left-wing factions, has only four seats in Israel’s 120-member legislature, making it one of its smallest political groups.
But in a country where coalition building is essential to achieving a political majority, even relatively small parties can wield considerable power.
