Israel's biggest threat is potential civil war

Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo said in his first public appearance since leaving office in June that the most pressing threat to Israel is not Iran, but rather the increased polarization within Israeli society.

“There is no outside existential threat to Israel, the only real existential threat is internal division,” Pardo said, according to J-Post.

“Internal division,” Pardo said, “can lead us to civil war – we are already on a path toward that. If a society crosses a certain line in its division and hatred, it is a real possibility to see a phenomenon like a civil war.”

Society at large bears responsibility to prevent these divisions, not just the leadership, he added.

In response to reporter’s questions, Pardo also addressed the Palestinian issue, saying that without a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “we will never be able to achieve normalization with our Arab neighbors.”