Suspect in PM death threat put under house arrest

A man who allegedly threatened the life of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an email to his office was released to four days of house arrest.

The suspect, 23, from Jerusalem, sent the malicious electronic message to the Prime Minister’s Office’s public inquiries service last Thursday and was later arrested by police.

On Friday the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended his arrest by four days, Ynet reported Tuesday. He is due to reappear before the court later this week.

The content of the email was not immediately available.

The incident came as Israel on Tuesday marked 19 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was shot on November 4, 1995, by right-wing extremist Yigal Amir at the end of a peace rally.

Hundreds attended a memorial rally held in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday night at the site where the shooting took place. Former president Shimon Peres, who was with Rabin on the fateful night in 1995, also attended the event.

Earlier this week Rabin’s daughter Dalia Rabin-Pelossof condemned what she called the growing incitement against Israeli officials like President Reuven Rivlin, who is perceived to hold a moderate stance toward the country’s Arab minority.

Rabin-Pelossof expressed particular concern about a doctored photo showing Rivlin in an Arab keffiyeh which has been circulating on right-wing websites and social media. News of the photo was reported late last week by the Maariv (Hebrew) website; it did not give a source or credit for the image.

The photo is somewhat reminiscent of an infamous doctored image of the late Rabin in the same kind of headscarf following the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1994 and before his assassination.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.