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A top Israeli opposition leader on Tuesday said his country is becoming a pariah state that kills children "as a hobby," the latest and strongest criticism of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza by an Israeli public figure.

“Israel is on the way to becoming a pariah state, like South Africa was, if we don’t return to acting like a sane country,” the left-wing and head of the opposition Democrats Party, Yair Golan, said in an interview for the Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

“And a sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill children as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations,” he said.

“This government is full of vengeful types with no morals and no ability to run a country in a time of crisis. This endangers our existence,” Golan added.

The unprecedented statements by Golan triggered furious reactions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government members, who ignore international calls to end the brutal war in Gaza.

Netanyahu described Golan's statements as "blood libel" and a "wild incitement."

"I vehemently condemn the wild incitement from Yair Golan against our heroic soldiers and against the State of Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement, alleging that the Israeli army "is the most moral army in the world."

Extremist rhetoric

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Golan is "spreading antisemitic blood libels" against Israel, claiming that the opposition leader took his statements from "a Hamas spokesman."

Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi called Golan "a terrorist," alleging that he is "sabotaging the safety of Israeli soldiers and Israeli democracy."

Opposition leader Benny Gantz, who was part of Netanyahu’s coalition government in the first months of the genocidal war on Gaza until he resigned last year, also stood against Golan's statements, and asked him "to retract and apologize."

The Israeli opposition leader’s comments came amid growing rhetoric from extremist settler groups and Israelis opposed to ending the war in Gaza.

The daily Haaretz cited comments from an illegal settler, Rivka Lafair, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, who publicly speaks to her audience on annihilating and expelling Gaza’s 2.4 million population.

"We are committed to take revenge and destroy Gaza. From infant to old woman," Lafair said, while invoking the biblical Amalek narrative as a reference to entirely crush the population of Gaza, including its women and children.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 53,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.