Amos Gilad, Director of the Defense Ministry’s Diplomatic-Security Bureau, said on Friday that Iran is the biggest threat to Israel, and called on the government to prioritize the Iranian issue and take action, though he did not specify what action he thinks should be taken.

Speaking at the Ashkelon Academic College, Gilad said, “There is no immediate nuclear threat right now, but the Iranians are definitely highly-motivated and determined.”

Gilad said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was the first to hear intelligence that Iran is aiming for nuclear missiles and said, “Netanyahu sees this as a tremendous threat. The Defense Minister of Defense is also aware of the threat and understands that is a central threat.”

“The good news,” he added, “is that the entire world is against Iran. The sanctions are having an effect but that does not change Iran’s strategic direction and motivation.”

Despite the impending threat from Iran, Gilad noted that Israel is currently in very good shape in terms of security, perhaps in better shape than it has ever been.

“Iraq, who was our greatest enemy, including nuclear weapons, no longer exists,” he said. “There is no nuclear threat at the present time, since Syria has given up and Iran is not crossing the line right now.”

A report published last week said that Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons is suffering from production and engineering troubles, because of the Stuxnet virus which hit Iran’s computers last year.

In his remarks on Friday, Gilad also addressed the threat emanating from the Hamas terror group, which currently controls Gaza. He hinted that Hamas wishes to expand its control.

“Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose vision is to establish an Islamic empire at the expense of other regimes, such as Mubarak and Assad,” he said, adding: “Hamas wants to take over Judea and Samaria and eliminate Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.”