A yeshiva student arrested under mysterious circumstances last month is suspected of having proposed to take out a hit on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a text message sent to Yair Lapid.
The threat was apparently an attempt to entrap the opposition leader, rather than a serious suggestion to assassinate Netanyahu, according to a police statement.
According to reports, the young man sent Lapid a message in which he asked whether he would like if, “‘by accident,’ something were to happen to [Justice Minister] Yariv Levin, or even Bibi?”
“Maybe, ‘God forbid’ something [could happen] to his family… between us, right?” the text continues. He quickly deleted the message, but not before Lapid’s team screenshotted it and reported the correspondence to law enforcement.
He was reportedly arrested at a gas station on Route 6, interrogated for several hours, then freed the same day.
Police say the yeshiva student apologized for sending the message, said he did not intend to make an attempt on anyone’s life, and claimed he was trying to “lure” Lapid, apparently into endorsing violence against his political opponents.
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