The Greatest Threat to Israeli Security
Israel’s greatest existential threat is not rockets from Gaza or nuclear ambitions in Iran. It is Israel’s own occupation policies.
In 2017, Tamir Pardo, who led Israel’s Mossad for five years, warned that failing to resolve the Palestinian conflict was “a ticking time bomb” more dangerous than any external enemy.
Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet—Israel’s internal security service—stated bluntly: “If we do not end the occupation, we will not have security, and if we do not have security, we will not survive.”
These warnings come not from peace activists or external critics, but from senior security experts responsible for Israel’s safety.
They are unequivocal: policies designed to make Israel secure are achieving precisely the opposite.
Historically, every significant expansion of Israeli settlements or failure to pursue genuine compromise has fueled greater instability.
After the Oslo Accords raised hopes for peace in the 1990s, Israel significantly expanded settlements in occupied territories. Predictably, tensions escalated into the violence of the Second Intifada.
At Camp David in 2000, Israel offered Palestinians fragmented territory without addressing core issues like refugee return.
Yasser Arafat’s rejection of these terms triggered a cycle of blame and violence.
While many portrayed this rejection as evidence of Palestinian unwillingness for peace, prominent Israeli historians and diplomats acknowledge it was the inevitable outcome of imposing dominance instead of genuine compromise.
B’Tselem, Israel’s most respected human rights organization, clarified the stakes in 2024: “Violence and disregard for human life are keystones of the Israeli apartheid regime. As long as this regime continues, more violence and victims—Palestinian and Israeli—are guaranteed.”
Hagai El-Ad, B’Tselem’s Executive Director, presented a stark choice to the Knesset and the UN Security Council: “Israel must choose peace with the Palestinians or continue down the road toward apartheid and perpetual war.”
Israel’s security establishment sees this reality with clarity. Haaretz concluded after the devastating October 7, 2023 attacks that reliance on force and occupation “shattered any Israeli notions” that land occupation equates to security.
Israel’s over-reliance on military solutions undermined its actual deterrence capabilities.
The lessons are evident, but only for those willing to listen and learn: Indefinite control over millions without their consent cannot yield lasting security. You cannot build peace by imposing permanent insecurity on others. Dominance is inherently unstable.
Yet, Israel’s current policies persist in expanding settlements, intensifying military operations, and rejecting genuine negotiations, thereby systematically eroding national security.
Knowledge alone is insufficient without the courage to act. The security establishment has long understood that every expansion of settlements, every escalation of military force, and every avoidance of real peace negotiations accelerates Israel toward catastrophe.
Israel faces an urgent choice: pursue authentic peace and coexistence or remain on a trajectory of perpetual insecurity through endless occupation.
The clock is ticking. Israeli leaders must summon the courage to act decisively, or history will deliver a judgment written in profound and unnecessary suffering for the whole region.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sources:
TAMIR PARDO SAYS THE OCCUPATION IS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ISRAEL — IT’S TIME TO TREAT IT AS SUCH
Israel: former security chief says ‘no end to occupation’ means ‘no democracy’
Ex-Mossad chief says lack of two-state solution is only existential threat to Israel
Expansion in the shadows: The dangers of Israeli aggression in the West Bank
Israeli Intelligence Was Caught Off Guard: The Hamas Attack on 7 October 2023—A Preliminary Analysis
Haaretz tells Israelis, ‘It’s time to choose life over death’
Israel is an apartheid regime, not a democracy, says prominent rights group