Israeli expat in US suspected of depicting politicians as Nazis

Police are cooperating with American officials in probe; suspect to be interrogated upon arrival in Israel

By ToI Staff 11 December 2014, 11:32 pm

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Israeli politicians depicted as Nazis. (photo credit: Facebook screen capture)

An Israeli who has been living in recent years in the United States is suspected of depicting top Israeli politicians as Nazis on the Internet, Israeli Police said Thursday.

The police’s cyber unit gathered evidence tying the suspect to the images of President Reuven Rivlin, ministers and the police chief photoshopped in Nazi uniforms and published on Facebook in November.

Details of the suspect were not released, though police said they are cooperating with US law enforcement in connection to the case, Ynet reported.

It was unclear whether US security forces had taken any active measures against the suspect.

The Israel Police further stated that the suspect would be interrogated upon his arrival in Israel, but did make clear whether they would be seeking extradition measures.

The crime is being investigated in accordance with an Israeli law that forbids offending a public servant.

Rivlin, recently ousted ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni, police chief Yohanan Danino and former minister Michael Eitan were each depicted jauntily dressed in the distinctive black uniforms of the World War II-era Schutzstaffel, more commonly known as the SS.

The images were posted to a Facebook account created the same day under the name Natan Zoabi.

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch asked attorney general Yehuda Weinstein to launch an investigation into the incident, calling it “severe.”

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch depicted as a Nazi. (photo credit: Facebook screen capture)

“This is crossing a red line and I take a very stern view of these publications. We all well remember where incitement of this kind led to in past and we need to speedily act to find those involved in this publication and bring them to justice,” he said.

Days after the photos were posted, an image of Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch also depicted as a Nazi was posted on a separate Facebook account.

The pictures were reminiscent of a placard distributed at a protest rally in 1995 which depicted Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a Nazi, shortly before his assassination. That poster was seen as part of a general anti-Rabin atmosphere at the time that some said led to his killing.