Ministers Zandberg, Michaeli receive boosted security after threats

Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli and Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg have both reportedly received boosted security due to threats against them.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the two left-wing ministers were notified of the upgraded security measures by the Shin Bet, after a series of threats on social media and the spread of fake news about them.

Michaeli, the head of Labor, and Zandberg, a member of Meretz, are now being accompanied by constant security protection as well as traveling in armored vehicles, Kan reported Thursday.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar are also under increased protection levels due to threats.

In early June, Zandberg fled her home with her baby daughter after a series of threats against them.

Zandberg said that she was staying home with her child after “severe threats” via phone and social media. But hours later, after additional threats — including an obituary notice pretending to announce Zandberg’s death — the former Meretz leader decided to take her family to an undisclosed location.

A number of ministers and lawmakers in the new coalition have faced numerous threats and angry protests outside their homes over their decisions to join forces in the ruling government. The protests have in particular targeted MKs from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party,

Yamina MK Idit Silman, who also serves as the coalition chair as well as chair of the Knesset Arrangements Committee, said earlier this week that she, along with her family, have continued to receive death threats to her phone and via social media.

“The threats against the lives of Idit Silman and her children are a red line and I call on all members of the opposition to condemn them,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted on Monday. “Disputes between the opposition and coalition are logical and accepted, but messages to her mobile phone are dangerous and a crime.”