JERUSALEM: Israeli left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan called on Monday for an immediate end to the Gaza war and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government no longer represented most Israelis.

“Today the government of Israel does not represent the vast majority of Israelis,” said Golan, chairman of the Democrats party and a former deputy army chief, days before a planned parliament vote which the opposition hopes would trigger a general election.
He told journalists in a briefing that after more than 20 months of fighting, Israel “should end the war as soon as possible.”
Golan’s party, a conglomeration of left-wing factions, has only four seats in Israel’s 120-member legislature, making it one of its smallest political groups.
But in a country where coalition building is essential to achieving a political majority, even relatively small parties can wield considerable power.

Golan, a former deputy minister in a short-lived administration that replaced Netanyahu in 2021-2022, said that the current government — one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history — was a threat to democracy.
The opposition leader said he represents those “who want to save Israeli democracy ... from a corrupted future” and the “messianic-like and nationalistic and extremist vision of a very small faction in the Israeli society.”
“The vast majority wants to keep Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and at the same time a free, egalitarian and democratic state,” Golan said.
He said that the vast majority of Israelis wanted to see an immediate end to the war in Gaza, the return of all hostages held by Palestinian militants in a single exchange deal, and the establishment of a national commission of inquiry into Hamas’s unprecedented 2023 attack, arguing that the Netanyahu government was opposed to these objectives.
“I believe that we can reach a hostage deal in a matter of days,” Golan said.
“I believe that by ending the war and freeing the hostages, we will be able to build an alternative to Hamas inside the Gaza Strip.”
Criticizing the government’s Gaza war policies, the former army general has recently drawn condemnation in Israel for saying that “a sane country ... does not kill babies for a hobby.”
Golan on Monday also said that most Israelis support legislation that would require ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, who are currently largely exempt from military service, to enlist.
The issue has sparked tension between Netanyahu and ultra-Orthodox parties in his government, with lawmakers threatening to topple the prime minister if no agreement is reached this week.
Some opposition parties are seeking to place a bill to dissolve parliament on Wednesday’s plenary agenda, hoping to capitalize on the ultra-Orthodox revolt.
“The vast majority wants new elections as soon as possible,” Golan said.

LONDON: For those who want to experience the hustle and bustle of Dubai without actually booking a flight, Shawn Chidiac’s stand-up comedy show in London will offer an insight into the multicultural city that provides inspiration for his jokes and stage personas.

The UAE-based comedian will perform “Laughing in Translation” live at the Shaw Theatre in London on June 15. He told Arab News that storytelling and sharing experiences with the audience are at the heart of his stand-up comedy.

Chidiac began sharing his humorous content on Instagram with the handle “Laughing in Arabic,” aiming to introduce Western satire and wit to the Arab region, where it is often unfathomable. He later changed his username to the more personal @myparents_are_divorced, which has grown to more than 645,000 followers.

The comedian’s parents are, indeed, divorced, though some people question this when they meet him. He was born in Canada to a family originally from Lebanon, which he still visits a few times a year, and he appreciates the resilience it instilled in him, which saved him from ending up “in a ditch many times,” he said.

Chidiac grew up mainly in Dubai with his mother, who at times worked two jobs and started her own business to make ends meet. In this “City of Gold” on the Arabian Gulf, home to 3.65 million people representing over 200 nationalities and speaking 150 different languages, Chidiac sharpened his wit, picked up various accents, and drew inspiration from stories from all walks of life.

Comedy has been the most healing part of my life so far and will continue to heal me in many different ways

Shawn Chidiac

The stand-up comedian tells astonishing stories about life in Dubai. His comedy is inspired by his experiences interacting with people, while his goal is to connect with audiences through shared similarities, or to educate them about his family upbringing, culture, and history.

“The inspiration comes from the people I know and see, and the things I do, and my interaction with them. So, the more interaction I have, the better it is, which is hard because I’m a massive introvert,” he told Arab News in a video call from Dubai.

His upbringing was mainly Arab, but also blends various cultures, mainly from Southeast Asia, as well as European and African countries. He discovered his talent for adopting different personas and accents at a young age when his mother heard him speaking with an Indian-English accent and asked him to perform it for her friends.

The closest he lived to Europe was Sharjah, an emirate just 10 minutes from Dubai, he said. In addition to working in a software company in the UAE, Chidiac also worked for two months in Amsterdam. In 2023, he decided to quit his 9-5 job and become a full-time content creator and stand-up comedian.

Last summer, he performed for the first time in London at Cadogan Hall alongside a group of stand-up comedians, and he recently had two performances at Dubai Opera and in Bahrain.

In mid-June, he will visit London for the second time to perform his first solo show. The audience can expect to see and hear various Dubai characters and their distinct accents, such as an Egyptian salesman in a supermarket, a caring Indian father with his son, a Filipino flight attendant ensuring that seat belts are fastened, and possibly a Persian prince wearing a golden necklace secured by a golden lock.

“I’m connecting as many people as possible through (comedy stories about) my upbringing. Whoever has lived in the Gulf will have a similar story or narrative in their minds… The London audience will be experiencing it live, but in their own way and through their own lenses,” Chidiac said.

He said that UK audiences are spoiled for choice when it comes to stand-up comedy shows, and their “palate” is different from those in Dubai, where most of his audience are first-timers. Nevertheless, he said that it matters to him that they find his show “funny, whether they’re black, white, Asian, or Arab.”

I’m connecting as many people as possible through (comedy stories about) my upbringing. Whoever has lived in the Gulf will have a similar story or narrative in their minds

Shawn Chidiac

Dubai is a popular destination for British expats, with an estimated 240,000 living there and many more visiting the city or using it as a transfer hub. Chidiac is working on his British accents, including one similar to the documentary-maker David Attenborough’s and a thick Cockney version from London’s East End.

In Dubai, he operates “Comedy Kitchen,” a community project that hosts open-mic nights to support other stand-up comedians, and he plans to launch a school to train and teach media skills.

Chidiac said that being a full-time content creator and comedian during the past two years “had its ups and downs.” Still, this has provided him with a solid platform on which to thrive and give back to his family.

“It’s a very scary place to call home, but it has changed my life for the better for sure. I never, never look back with any regrets at all.

“Comedy has been the most healing part of my life so far and will continue to heal me in many different ways,” he said.

* Laughing in Translation by Shawn Chidiac at the Shaw Theatre, London; 8pm, Sunday 15 June 2025