Ramle man, 52, charged with incitement for 2023 posts threatening to poison Justice Minister Levin

A man from Ramle is charged with incitement after he made a series of posts threatening to poison Justice Minister Yariv Levin in early 2023.

Eyal Zaidman, 52, is indicted in the Ramle Magistrate’s Court on four counts of incitement to violence.

Prosecutors in the State Attorney’s Office say Zaidman wrote a series of post on X in February 2023 that targeted Levin amid mass protests sparked the previous month by the justice minister’s announcement of plans to weaken the judiciary.

According to the indictment, Zaidman replied to a photo of the Levin with a threat: “We will poison him soon.”

When another user tagged the Israel Police under his post, Zaidman in response also tagged law enforcement, adding that Levin’s poisoning would be “slow and agonizing.”

“We’ll start with the poisoning and continue by blowing up Channel 14,” he added, referring to the pro-government news outlet.

In a separate post soon afterward, Zaidman said: “I realize that I scared some people with my intention to poison a certain someone. Unfortunately I didn’t find the right poison. Sorry for the scare.”

Prosecutors write that Zaidman’s posts, which circulated widely on X, “encourage acts of violence against the justice minister.”

They add that there was a “tangible possibility that the posts could lead to… an act of violence.”