Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo on Wednesday gave an interview to The Associated Press in which he accused the Israeli government of enforcing an “apartheid system” in Judea and Samaria.
“There is an apartheid state here,” Pardo said, adding, “In a territory where two people are judged under two legal systems, that is an apartheid state.”
He also said that as Mossad chief, he repeatedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he needed to decide what Israel’s borders were, or risk the destruction of a state for the Jews.
“Israel needs to decide what it wants. A country that has no border has no boundaries,” Pardo told AP.
In what appeared to be a response to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s recent comments on Israelis’ freedom of movement in Judea and Samaria, Pardo said Israeli citizens can get into a car and drive wherever they want, excluding the blockaded Gaza Strip, but Palestinian Arabs can’t drive everywhere. He said that his views on the system in Judea and Samaria were “not extreme. It’s a fact.”
The Likud Party issued a statement condemning Pardo’s comments. “Instead of defending Israel and the Israeli military, Pardo slanders Israel. Pardo. You should be ashamed,” it said.
Minister Amichai Eliyahu said in response, "A legitimate protest that turned into a shameful BDS campaign. A protest that publicly exposes the distorted worldviews that have infiltrated the defense establishment."
MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) said, "The work of the righteous is done by others. And thanks to Tamir Pardo, the former head of the Mossad, who proves the depth of the deep state that has penetrated the senior ranks of the defense establishment a long time ago. To the shame of all of us, and while insulting the dignity of our heroic soldiers, he was interviewed and said that there is an apartheid regime in Judea and Samaria. Based on his outrageous opinion, in real time, he made recommendations to the political echelon."