Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo sharply criticized Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, likening recent assaults by the occupiers to the Holocaust, saying he felt “ashamed to be Jewish.”
Pardo condemned escalating violence by Israeli occupiers against Palestinians, calling it an “existential threat” to the state, the Times of Israel reported.
“My mother was a Holocaust survivor, and what I saw reminded me of the events that happened against Jews in the last century,” Pardo said during a tour of Palestinian villages that have come under attack in recent months.
“What I saw today made me feel ashamed to be Jewish.”
Pardo made the comments to Channel 13 while touring the area alongside former senior military officials, including Matan Vilnai and Amram Mitzna.
“What I saw today is the existential threat to the State of Israel,” he warned.
Pardo added that Israeli law enforcement authorities are aware of the situation but have “chosen to ignore it.”
He cautioned that efforts to curb extremist occupiers-some of whom he said are armed and have political backing-could trigger internal conflict.
“Pushing back on them could spark a civil war,” he said, pointing to the influence of far-right figures within the government like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Across the West Bank, attacks by Israeli occupiers have been on the rise, including raids on villages and acts of vandalism, with Palestinians accusing the Israeli army of providing protection for such assaults.
The UN considers Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories illegal and has repeatedly called for a halt to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
About 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 141 illegal settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank, including around 250,000 in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers part of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Since October 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers in the West Bank have killed at least 1,154 Palestinians, injured about 11,750 others, and led to nearly 22,000 arrests, according to official Palestinian data.
These violations include property destruction, home burnings, forced displacement, and expansion of illegal settlement activity, with Palestinians warning that such policies pave the way for the annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel.
