Golan, who entered politics five years ago after a career in the army, is one of the most prominent of the many brave Israelis who took matters into their own hands that day to save others. His new image as a hero has given his political career a shot in the arm – and he has decided his new mission is to revive his country’s moribund left.
“The right today in Israel is people who think we can annex millions of Palestinians, and Israel should adopt some sort of policy of revenge, that we can live by our swords and not attempt to reconcile with the Palestinians or any other hostile entity in the region. I think 180 degrees the opposite.”
Israeli politics has changed, Golan said. “I’m not sure whether Israel right now is truly a democratic state any more … It is not a question of left or right any more: these titles are meaningless,” he said.
I would like to add that having free and fair elections isn’t enough to be a democracy. A democracy, by definition, is simple majority rule in which the government represents the will and interests of the people. Paid propaganda, paid lobbying, SuperPACs, the existence of a donor class, etc all betray the ideals of what democracy represents. Any government that ceases to represent the interests and will of the people ceases to be a democracy, regardless of how fair and free their elections may seem.