Yair Golan (Hebrew: יאיר גולן; born 14 May 1962) is an Israeli politician and leader of the Democrats party and a senior military officer.

[6] His father served in the IDF and his last role was a senior technical assistant to the chief communications and electronics officer at the rank of lieutenant colonel (Sgan Aluf).

[10] His elder brother is a Geography and History professor in the University of Haifa[11] and his younger sister is a special-education teacher in the Shamir Medical Center.

[13] Golan was the head of the "nest council" (one rank above instructors) of Rishon LeZion in the leftist Labour Zionist youth movement HaNoar HaOved.

After successfully passing the flight academy acceptance tests, he decided to follow his brother's steps and volunteer for the paratrooper brigade instead.

[16] Golan served as the commander of the Brigade's Anti-tank company and led the 890 Paratroop Battalion in counter-guerrilla operations in the South Lebanon conflict and in the First Intifada.

Between the years 1996–1997 he commanded the Eastern brigade of Lebanon Liaison Unit and was injured in an encounter with a squad of Hezbollah militants.

He received a weapon and arrived in his private vehicle to the Gaza envelope, and rescued many survivors who were trapped in the area of the massacre at the Nature Festival near Re'im, using their phone locations.

[35][36] As Deputy Chief of Staff, Golan made a speech on Holocaust Day in 2016 in which some say he drew a parallel between Europe in general and Germany in particular in the 1930s and current day Israel, by saying "If there is one thing that is scary in remembering the Holocaust, it is noticing horrific processes which developed in Europe – particularly in Germany – 70, 80, and 90 years ago, and finding remnants of that here (in Israel) among us in the year 2016."

He said that sometimes Israeli soldiers were harsh in dealing with Palestinians, and he highlighted the example of Sergeant Elor Azaria being tried over a Hebron shooting incident as evidence that the IDF investigates itself and has high moral standards.

[37] His comments drew significant criticism on social media, with Twitter users accusing Golan of "forgetting the lessons of the Holocaust.

Culture Minister Miri Regev called for his resignation, while opposition leader Isaac Herzog praised Golan for exhibiting "morality and responsibility.

"[39] Later, Golan retracted and said that he did not intend to compare Israel to Nazi Germany, releasing a statement in which he said: "It is an absurd and baseless comparison and I had no intention whatsoever to draw any sort of parallel or to criticize the national leadership.

[41] Homesh was an Israeli settlement that was evicted in the 2005 disengagement, but since then had constant illegal attempts to resettle it, and is a source of protest and violence in the West Bank.

[42][43][44] On 16 December 2021, Yehudah Dimentman, a resident of the nearby settlement, Shavei Shomron who was a student at the Homesh outpost yeshiva, was killed by a Palestinian shooter.

[55][56] In an interview on 31 July 2022, Golan stated: "The way I used the procedure reduced the danger posed on the IDF soldiers drastically, and I avoided confrontations that could've ended in the death of many Palestinians.

[60][better source needed][61][62] Golan supports a two-state solution based on land swaps and the keeping of most settlement blocs.

It's a crazy idea in my eyes, the establishment of a bloc of Jewish settlements between Khan Yunis and the sea is a dreadful and terrible thing".

[41] Although there are conflicting statements, Golan stated in August 2022 that the IDF is an "occupying military" but believes it is justified until peace is achieved.