Former Israeli ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon warned on Sunday that the current Arab majority in Israel's northern Galilee region could one day break away from the Jewish state and demand international recognition.
Ayalon said the Galilee Arabs would act on the precedents being set by Kosovo and the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The solution, urged Ayalon, is for the government of Israel to immediately implement policies that will encourage more Jews to move to the Galilee.
If his words are not heeded, Ayalon cautioned, the coming demand by Galilee Arabs for independence will be the "last piece in the puzzle" of the total dismantling of the Jewish state.
Ayalon made his remarks during a mayoral campaign rally in the northern town of Carmiel during which he officially announced he is joining the right-wing Israel Beiteinu Party.
Israel Beiteinu supports the creation of a Palestinian Arab state in Judea and Samaria, but advocates swapping large Israeli-Arab towns bordering those areas for large Jewish settlements.