GENEVA, June 20. /TASS/. Israel faces greater danger from internal division amid regional expansion and undefined borders than from Iran, former chief of Israeli intelligence service Mossad (2011-2016), Tamir Pardo, stated.

According to him, the existential threat to Israel lies internally. "Our survival is jeopardized not by Tehran, but by Tel Aviv, figuratively speaking," Pardo said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung. He identified deep societal rifts, the unresolved Palestinian conflict and political radicalization as the real risks.

"Iran is dangerous, but it does not threaten our existence. If we fail to reconcile internally, we will collapse from within before being destroyed externally," he emphasized.

The ex-spy chief said the root of the problem is Israel’s lack of internationally recognized fixed borders. Since the 1967 Six-Day War, the Jewish state has effectively controlled all the territory from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, where half of the population is not actually Jewish, noted Pardo.

"If one day we annex the West Bank and Gaza, that would incorporate about 7.5 million non-Jews into Israel. <...> Then Israel would cease being a Jewish state and would be forced to undergo fundamental changes in terms of political and social identity. That is why my position is clear: we must establish clear borders."

In the early morning hours of June 13, Israel launched a military operation aimed against Iran’s nuclear program. Iran responded in less than 24 hours. Israel and Iran have continued exchanging strikes ever since. Both parties reported casualties and damage, and admitted that a number of facilities had been hit. The mutual strikes remain ongoing.