Tel Aviv, Oct. 6 -- Israel faces a growing risk of civil conflict and state collapse as political, economic and social tensions deepen ahead of the country's October 27 elections, according to a classified CIA assessment reported by Drop Site News.

The August assessment, titled "Fracture From Within", was prepared by experts from the CIA's Red Cell, a unit tasked with producing alternative analysis and challenging prevailing assumptions within the intelligence community. Two US sources familiar with the assessment described its contents to Drop Site News. The CIA did not respond to a request for comment.

The assessment reportedly identified several pressures converging inside Israel, including rising military spending, prolonged mobilis...