Netanyahu aide files police complaint over online death threat against former PM

Twitter user writes ‘this man should be killed quickly before it is too late,’ in response to an article about opposition leader

A complaint was filed with police on Wednesday over a death threat against opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu that was posted on social media.

“This man should be killed quickly before it is too late,” read the comment posted on Twitter, in response to an article about Netanyahu.

The threat was made by a Twitter user under the handle “J&P,” the Ynet news site reported.

The complaint was submitted to law enforcement by Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman.

“It joins a long line of threats against former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara, and children Yair and Avner,” read Braverman’s complaint.

Netanyahu has made several complaints to police over threats to harm him and his family. In December, a man was indicted for harassment over a tweet in which he graphically threatened to sexually assault Sara Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with his cabinet secretary Tzachi Braverman at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, January 29, 2017. (Ohad Zwigenberg/POOL)

Meanwhile, a number of members of the current cabinet, as well as officials involved in Netanyahu’s ongoing graft trial, have been given extra security due to threats against them and their relatives.

The threats are usually made over social media. However, last month right-wing political activist Ilana Sporta Hania was indicted for sending threatening letters containing bullets to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, his wife and his teenage son.

Threatening letter sent to the Bennett family in April 2022: ‘This is the bullet that will hit your soft underbelly Naftali Bennett and directly hit Yoni Bennett if you do not resign’ (Courtesy)

Details emerged during the investigation of Hania’s history of activism in support of Likud and Netanyahu, and against the current government. She has been investigated in the past for threatening politicians with whom she disagrees.

Netanyahu has condemned the threats made by Hania. Posting on his channel on the Telegram app, the opposition leader spoke out against “all types of violence against the prime minister or any other person,” and added that Hania would be expelled from Likud if her guilt was proved.