Israel: internal divisions ‘greater threat’ than foreign enemies, says former army chief

A former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, Gadi Eisenkot, has warned that the country’s internal divisions pose a greater threat than its foreign foes, Walla has reported. Eisenkot issued a similar warning a year ago.

“I think that the rifts in Israeli society, and the attacks from both sides, the decline in governance, the decline in faith in state institutions, in the courts, crime — all these are the greatest threats for the country’s future,” explained the former general. “People are worried, not because of the Iranian threat, but because of internal weakness, loss of cohesion, inequality, friction between different communities. Entire groups of the public are not being absorbed into society.”

He insisted that Israelis need to understand that there is no national security without societal solidarity. “And there is no societal solidarity without national security.”

Eisenkot highlighted the declining involvement with the Israeli army in recent decades as an indicator of this breakdown.

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