Israel Security Agency (ISA) chief, Ronen Bar claimed on Sunday that the lack of political stability, internal division, and the extreme discourse online serve as encouragement for the axis of evil, terrorist organizations, and lone wolves.
At a conference at the Riechman University International Institute for Counter-terrorism, the ISA chief said: "Our enemies feel that our national resilience is vanishing and this needs to bother us more than anything else. The ISA can only warn about that, we can't fix it. It's in each of our hands.
We need to assume that there is still a good chance that violence will break out in mixed cities during times of crisis, and the more incitement there is, the more the chances go up. The ISA will not let up from bringing the perpetrators of the 2021 'Guardian of the Walls' riots to justice. We won't forgive and we won't forget."
The ISA chief continued: "The state of Israel is going from a nation with mixed cities to a mixed nation. Large populations are leaving the Arab towns, which damages their advancement. There are difficult consequences of this issue. There are encounters between groups whose differences are greater than their similarities."
According to Bar, "We need to assume that the possibility of a flare-up in violence in the Arab and mixed population centers during times of crisis exists. And as long as there is incitement with the change in the status quo in 'Al Aqsa' the chance will rise."
Regarding the Palestinian issue, Bar said, "The violence in Judea and Samaria is soaring. Due to the system's lack of care, our men need to go on nightly raids. The price is Palestinian casualties and an additional decline in the system's reputation. We stopped 312 potential terror attacks and made over 2000 arrests. It takes two to tango."
The ISA chief called to change the policy regarding the Gaza Strip and hinted that he thinks that there is a need for a military response to the incitement and the planning of attacks in Israel from Gaza: "Israel should add incitement and the direction the of attacks outside of the strip to the equation. (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar needs to understand this."