A man has been sentenced on appeal to 13 months in prison for a tweet threatening former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Beersheba resident Asher Ben David was initially sentenced to eight months of community service and an NIS 1,500 ($445) fine, but Beersheba District Court agreed with the prosecution that the magistrate’s court decision had been too lenient.
Ben David has admitted that in 2020, he tweeted “Does anyone know about preparations for assassinating the prime minister? Does someone know… I’d love to take part… it seems that the time has come, I think we’re up to our necks in it.”
The court ruling came as police announced that they would indict a woman accused of sending threatening notes to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his family.
“Everyone hiding behind a keyboard should know before they dare spewing comments like this and putting them in the public sphere that they should expect a harsh punishment and jail time,” the prosecution argued, according to Channel 12 news.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
