Anti-government activist indicted on terror charges over alleged plot to kill Netanyahu

State prosecutors filed terror charges Thursday against an anti-government activist who was arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The defendant, in her 70s, decided to kill the premier after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness and understood she only had a short time to live, prosecutors said.

The woman’s identity remains barred from publication under a court-issued gag order. She was arrested about two weeks prior to her indictment in the Tel Aviv District Court, where she was charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act.

The defendant was released to house arrest Wednesday with a restraining order against approaching the premier and government buildings. Prosecutors requested, alongside the indictment, to keep her under house arrest until the end of legal proceedings against her, arguing that she could still attempt to carry out her plan if freed.

Prosecutors claimed the defendant sought to die as a martyr and “sacrifice her life” for the anti-government struggle, thereby “saving” Israel.

The suspect is the latest in a series of Israelis to be nabbed in recent months for allegedly trying to kill Netanyahu or inciting to his murder. In 2024, multiple suspects were accused of assassination attempts against the premier and other senior officeholders, past and present.

Iran has also tried to recruit Israelis to assassinate top Israeli politicians and scientists as part of a wide-ranging effort to build a network of homegrown spies.

Police were notified of the plan via one of the woman’s fellow activists in the anti-government movement, whom she tried to rope into her assassination plot.

She told her friend about her plan in late June, to which he immediately objected. He asked her to hold off, in an effort to dissuade her.

A few days later, the defendant invited him again to her home, requesting he help her obtain an RPG to kill Netanyahu. She also tried to enlist him in gathering intelligence regarding the premier’s schedule, movements, whereabouts and security detail. She ensured that phones were kept outside the room during these conversations.

After realizing he would be unable to dissuade the defendant, the activist contacted a lawyer, who informed the security agency of the assassination plot. According to Hebrew outlets, the lawyer in question is former Shin Bet agent Gonen Ben-Yitzhak, also active in anti-government causes.

Prosecutors wrote in the indictment that the defendant conspired to assassinate the premier while “motivated by political or ideological reasons, with the intent to instill fear” in the public and influence government actions.

“The act involved substantial risk of causing serious physical harm to an individual,” the indictment read.