Man arrested after telling police he wants to murder Netanyahu

The Israel Police reportedly arrested a resident of the southern city of Kiryat Gat for threatening to kill Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The man, 47, called a local police station and said he wanted to murder the prime minister, the Ynet news site reported Sunday.

The suspect reportedly has a history of psychiatric issues.

Officers detained the man for questioning, during which he described how he intended to carry out the killing.

His remand was extended and he was sent to be assessed at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, the report said.

On Saturday police and the Shin Bet security agency said they arrested a man over a threatening letter to Netanyahu that was found a day earlier on the grave of the premier’s brother Yoni Netanyahu, in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery.

Some Hebrew media outlets reported that that suspect, too, has a history of mental health problems.

Earlier this month, a man was arrested for writing what were allegedly threatening messages against Netanyahu in a WhatsApp group opened after a terrorist shooting attack in the West Bank settlement of Eli, in which four Israelis were killed.

Police said the 23-year-old suspect, a resident of Beit Shemesh, wrote: “Everyone should carry a weapon with them. Then there will be a gun for everyone and an opportunity to put a bullet in Bibi’s head,” using the premier’s nickname.

The incidents came amid stepped-up protests against Netanyahu and his hardline government after it decided to push ahead with its controversial legislation to overhaul the judicial system, and amid heightened tensions and political rhetoric that has seen threats made against leaders on both sides of the dispute.

Netanyahu has received several death threats in recent months, with most of them connected to his government’s controversial legislation.