Former head of the Mossad spy agency Tamir Pardo on Monday branded the ongoing settler terror attacks against Palestinians an “existential threat” to the State of Israel, and said that action to curb it could spark a civil war.
Pardo made the comments to Channel 13 while touring some of the Palestinian villages that have come under settler attack in recent months.
“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. “What I saw today made me feel ashamed to be Jewish.”
Settler attacks take place on a near-daily basis in the West Bank, and have accelerated during the war with Iran that began on February 28 and entered a truce on April 8. During that time, the left-wing Yesh Din human rights organization recorded 378 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank.
Eight Palestinians were shot and killed, and 200 were injured during that time, the organization said.
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Extremist settlers, sometimes in mobs, have been recorded assaulting Palestinians, torching cars, and damaging property.
Pardo toured areas with former IDF deputy commander Matan Vilnai, and Amram Mitzna, former commander of the IDF central command.
Former director of Mossad Tamir Pardo attends a conference at Reichman University in Herzliya, on January 13, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Pardo warned that the settlers behind the attacks, and the government that has failed to stop them, are creating the conditions that could lead to a October 7-style attack coming from the West Bank, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led invasion and massacres in southern Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
“To my great regret, what we are seeing today” in the West Bank, he said, “is the next October 7. It will be in a different format, much more painful, because the region is much more complicated. The state has chosen to sow the seeds for the next October 7.”
Pardo said he thinks law enforcement authorities are aware of what is going on “but chose to ignore it.”
Pardo said fixing the issue would come at a high cost.
“What I saw today is the existential threat to the State of Israel,” he said, due to the difficulty and potential violent backlash if authorities were to crack down on extremist settlers.
He said pushing back on the violent settlers — many of them armed by the state — could spark a civil war, given how well-connected many of the extremists are in the halls of power — an apparent reference to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, and fellow far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who holds a second portfolio as a minister in the Defense Ministry.
Tamir Pardo, the former Mossad head, saw the lawless anarchy underway in the West Bank and recoiled in horror: “I feel ashamed to be a Jew.”
Pardo, who was accompanied by other former security chiefs, described what he saw in the West Bank as reminiscent of “events perpetrated… pic.twitter.com/gZp0h1CgBc
— UnXeptable (@UnxeptableD) April 28, 2026
“If we want, we can correct this, but the price will be very high,” Pardo said. “It can drag the entire country to a place” like the situation in Lebanon, an apparent reference to the civil and political strife in that country, where the Hezbollah terror group uses its military means to assert authority on the country.
“It is very much worth our while not to get there,” he said.
Pardo recalled the late Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who controversially warned that control over millions of Palestinians in the territories would ultimately corrupt Israeli society.
The former spy chief said he used to think that Leibowitz was misguided in his comments, but after witnessing the actions of settler extremists in recent months, he now believes “there was a lot of truth” to what the Israeli philosopher said.
In response to the report, Israel Police told Channel 13 that it is active in the West Bank “in accordance with the designated responsibilities,” adding that since January, 48 suspects have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in settler violence, and 33 indictments have been filed.
Palestinians stand at the scene where vehicles and a home were set on fire following an attack by extremist Jewish settlers in the village of Beit Amrin, west of Nablus, in the West Bank, April 22, 2026. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Critics accuse the government of turning a blind eye to violent attacks by settlers, which have become increasingly deadly in recent years.
Arrests in such cases are rare, and convictions are even less common, though the attacks take place on a daily basis.
The Israel Defense Forces has also faced criticism for often standing by while attacks unfold — with troops sometimes actively participating — or failing to prosecute those responsible.
Some critics claim that the overwhelming impunity enjoyed by attackers demonstrates that the violence is sanctioned, if not encouraged, by the government.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir last month issued a sharp condemnation of settler violence, calling attacks against Palestinian civilians and soldiers in the West Bank “morally and ethically unacceptable” and a major strategic impediment.
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