Politicians’ security boosted following death threats
Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch ordered to only travel in armored vehicles; Naftali Bennett seen with extra body guard
Adiv Sterman is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
The Shin Bet’s Magen personnel security unit on Monday tightened security around the home of Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, following a series of anonymous death threats lodged against him in recent weeks. The unit further ordered the Yisrael Beytenu minister to only travel in armored vehicles until further notice.
Last month, a photoshopped image depicting Aharonovitch dressed in Nazi uniform surfaced on social media, days after other Israeli politicians were similarly portrayed. A caption accompanying the photo accused him of being a “Judenrat/Kapo in charge of internal ‘security’ in the Israeli concentration camp better known as the State of Israel.”
The photo was posted on Facebook by a user calling himself Yaron Nakmani, though police have yet to determine the uploader’s true identity.
The Facebook profile, which seems to have been opened the same day the photos were published, also included a screenshot of an article dating back to 2011, which told of a police decision not to investigate the online publishing of a photo of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Nazi uniform.
The picture was reminiscent of a placard, distributed at a protest rally in 1995, that depicted then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin as a Nazi, shortly before his assassination. That poster was seen as part of a general anti-Rabin atmosphere at the time that some said led to his killing.
The Magen unit said Monday that it was also considering ramping up security measures around Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett during his coming public appearances. The unit, however, did not detail any specific threats against the Jewish Home leader.
According to the Walla news site, Bennett had already been seen with an extra body guard as early as Sunday.
Three weeks ago, body guards were assigned to MK Eli Yishai, the former leader of the Shas party, after he announced his resignation from the party and the establishment of a new list. Yishai claimed he had received death threats as well, including a phone call to one of his aides during which an unidentified person said he would stab Yishai.
On Sunday, former Shas chairman Aryeh Deri accused Yishai of leaking a videotape showing the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a revered Sephardic leader, former chief rabbi who founded Shas, to the party’s rabbinical council. In the video Yosef, who died last year, was seen slamming Deri in a recorded conversation and calling him “a thief and bribe taker” who dragged the Shas party to support the Oslo accords.
Deri, who late last month resigned from the Knesset in the wake of the incident, said on Sunday that he had known for several weeks that Yishai was in possession of the tape, but that his rival had promised he would never publicize it.
Yishai, for his part, has repeatedly insisted he did not leak the tape.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
