Amid rising levels of polarization in Israeli society, a former senior military officer has called on Israelis to “take to the streets” and overthrow their government.

Following the U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer’s scathing criticism of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, the former deputy chief of staff in the Israeli military, Yair Golan, has backed Schumer’s remarks – and gone one step further. 

Golan, who also served in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) until 2022, called for what he termed as “democratic forces in Israel to take to the streets and overthrow the worst government in our history”. 

Schumer took to the Senate floor, speaking for 30 minutes, in what was a blistering attack on Netanyahu, his “extremist” cabinet ministers, while also calling for “fresh elections in Israel”. 

Golan, who announced last month that he would take part in the Israeli Labor Party primary elections in May to potentially challenge Netanyahu, said, “The sharp, painful and unprecedented words of the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, reflect the feelings of the Israeli public”. 

“The Israeli government and its leaders are leading us to political isolation, an unprecedented break in relations with our strategic ally, and a complete failure in the war,” Golan wrote in a post on social media. 

The former Israeli military commander added, “All democratic forces in Israel must unite, take to the streets and overthrow the worst government in our history. It is in our soul.” 

There has been a growing protest movement, which was temporarily put on hold after October 7, but has now resumed and is spreading across Israeli cities demanding Netanyahu step down. 

After more than five months of relentless Israeli air and ground assaults on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which have also brought famine and starvation along with a record number of civilians killed and displaced in the enclave that has been reduced to rubble, the military has failed to achieve any of the Netanyahu government’s stated objective. 

Schumer said, “The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after 7 October.” 

In an indirect reference to Netanyahu’s strict censorship on how Israeli media covers the genocidal war on Gaza where the regime’s military has suffered significant losses, Schumer said, “The Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.” 

“Israeli people being stifled” is also a major reference to the rising number of anti-Netanyahu protests in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Rallies that have been met with violent force. 

Despite criticizing the current Israeli leadership, Schumer has been pushing for more U.S. weapons to be sent to Tel Aviv, which will land on Palestinian civilians, so he clearly doesn’t have a problem with the Israeli occupation or the unprecedented death toll and starvation of Palestinian children in Gaza but his beef is more personal with Netanyahu and his gang. 

The U.S. Senate leader has shown staunch support for the Israeli regime since October 7, but clearly believes the Israeli prime minister and his cabinet are diverting the interests of Washington and sending Tel Aviv down a very messy path that will see America’s number one proxy in the region a “pariah” on the world stage. 

This is evident in Shumar’s remarks when he points out that “Netanyahu lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel. He has put himself in coalition with far-right extremists… which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.” 

Schumer went on to call for a fresh Israeli election. 

“There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after 7 October. In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election.” 

The next Israeli parliamentary elections are expected to take place in 2026, but very few believe it would take that long, and experts say voters will be heading to the ballot boxes for the umpteenth time very soon. 

Schumar also hit out at Netanyahu’s unpopular policies with the Israeli public before October 7. 

“He has shown zero interest in doing the courageous and visionary work required to pave the way for peace even before this present conflict,” he said. 

The U.S. Senate leader's remarks do not necessarily represent Biden’s White House policy, and the Biden administration was very quick to distance itself from them, emphasizing that Congress is an independent body.  

A spokesperson for Netanyahu's office declined to issue an immediate comment, but his Likud party said the regime was not a “banana republic”. This is despite the massive political instability within Israeli society amid widespread public, political, and military dissent, as well as Tel Aviv’s heavy reliance on Washington for its survival. 

Schumer alluded to this in his speech when he suggested the U.S. may choose to make at least some parts of American support for the Israeli occupation conditional upon the Netanyahu government changing its policies.

“If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing U.S. standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.”

The reality is that Israeli dependence on the U.S. support for arms and diplomatic cover is so vast that Washington has very easy leverage to force the Israeli military to end its genocidal war on Gaza if the U.S. chooses to do so. 

But the White House hasn’t, and the U.S. is enabling genocide in Gaza.

Israel launched its indiscriminate air and ground assault on Gaza in the wake of Hamas’s 7 October operation and the number of Palestinians the Israeli military has killed is now more than 31,000 and more than 73,000 others injured, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry. 

A large portion of the remaining population is facing starvation, according to the United Nations.