Democrats party chairman Yair Golan revealed Monday that he summoned candidate Naor Narkis for a "very difficult conversation" after the social activist made inflammatory remarks suggesting that religious Zionist soldiers die in disproportionate numbers because they do not complete full military service like secular soldiers.
"I called Naor Narkis and we had a very difficult conversation," Golan said in an interview on Galei Tzahal's Safi Winir program, confirming he had drawn a clear red line for members of his party list.
The controversy erupted over the weekend after Narkis, who is competing in the Democrats' primary scheduled for July 20, said in an i24NEWS interview: "If they had done full service like secular soldiers, maybe they wouldn't be falling so much." The remarks drew immediate and fierce condemnation from across the political spectrum, with critics calling them a grotesque insult to fallen religious Zionist soldiers and their families.
Golan moved quickly to distance his party from the comments. "Statements against entire communities in the State of Israel will no longer exist in my party," he said, adding that Narkis "heard the words and accepted them."
The party chairman was equally pointed about what he sees as the correct political target for left-wing criticism. "We are in a period where I think it is simply wrong to attack yeshiva hesder students," he explained. "Instead, we should be talking about the political leadership of religious Zionism, which is dragging us toward dangerous extremism." He closed with a clear directive: "Those who should be attacked are Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, not the yeshiva students themselves."
Narkis, who has built a public profile as a secular activist vocal about what he sees as religious coercion, has a history of sharp online rhetoric directed at the religious and haredi communities. His latest remarks, however, touched a particularly raw nerve during wartime, when the sacrifice of hesder soldiers has been a matter of national grief and pride.
The Democrats' primary, set for July 20, will see 85,000 registered members vote to shape the party list ahead of general elections expected by October 27. Party leadership has touted the membership figure as the highest since the 1990s.
