TEL AVIV — Israel’s army is a people’s army, and this is usually a time when we Israelis recognize that. On Wednesday, we solemnly mark Memorial Day. On Thursday, we joyously celebrate Independence Day. It’s a week when the country salutes the Israel Defense Forces, the institution that defends its fragile being, and the I.D.F. salutes the public, which sends its sons and daughters to mandatory service.

But this year hasn’t been typical. The I.D.F. is facing a barrage of criticism. The army, which historically enjoyed support across the Jewish Israeli spectrum, has become politicized. That this has happened is a failure of the I.D.F.’s leaders, a failure similar to losing in battle. Worse yet, the I.D.F. cannot win on the battlefield without the Israeli public’s trust.

The immediate reason for the outrage was a speech last week by the I.D.F.’s deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan. In remarks on Holocaust Remembrance Day, General Golan said that he sees similarities between Nazi Germany of the 1930s and Israel today when it comes to “signs of intolerance and violence.”

Unsurprisingly, his speech was not well received. For one thing, Holocaust Remembrance Day is not the time for controversial political statements. Moreover, what he said is nonsense. Israel is guilty of many sins, but “abhorrent processes that took place in Europe,” as he put it, are not happening here. The general was repudiated by politicians, mocked on social media and called upon by pundits to resign. Probably taken aback by such an angry reaction, General Golan backtracked the next day, albeit unconvincingly.