In an interview, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made somewhat shocking claims, stating that the true enemies of his country are “extremist groups of Israelis who think they can expel Palestinians and annex territories.”
Olmert said it is a duty to fight against such “crazy, messianic” groups.
“Netanyahu’s coalition partners want to expel the residents of the West Bank so they can annex it. And so, what I am saying, and I say it all the time, and I know that some of my colleagues in Israel don’t like me saying it abroad, especially not on Christiane Amanpour’s show, but I’ll say it – our real enemy is not Iran, which is an enemy, it’s not Hezbollah, which is an enemy, it’s not Hamas, which is an enemy,” said the former Israeli Prime Minister, concluding: “The real enemy is within. Messianic, crazy, extremist groups of Israelis who think they can expel Palestinians and annex territories. I fight against them, I campaign against them, and I believe it is the duty of the current Israeli government and Netanyahu.”
In the interview, Olmert added that the current Prime Minister Netanyahu, unfortunately, depends on them politically to such an extent that he turns a blind eye and “allows them to do things that are completely unbearable and unacceptable.”
Ehud Olmert served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and was also the Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.
Photo: Israeli Government Press Office
