Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a rather shocking claim – the real enemies of his country were "extreme groups of Israelis who think they can expel the Palestinians and annex the territories", reports CNN.

Olmert said it was their 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 say, and I say it all the time, and I know that sometimes some of my colleagues in Israel don't like what I say abroad, certainly not in Christiane Amanpour's program, but I will say it – the real enemy is not is Iran, which is the enemy, not Hezbollah, which is the enemy, not Hamas, which is the enemy," said the former Israeli prime minister and emphasized:

"The real enemy is from within." Messianic, crazy, extreme groups of Israelis who think they can drive out the Palestinians and annex the territories. I fight against them, I campaign against them, and I think it is the responsibility of the current Israeli government and Netanyahu."

In an interview with CNN, Olmert added that current Prime Minister Netanyahu, unfortunately, is politically dependent on them to the extent that he turns a blind eye and "allows them to do things that are completely intolerable and unacceptable."

Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, and was also the Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.