Right-winger arrested for death threats against chairman, Arab party says

The police have arrested a right-wing activist who made death threats against Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint (Arab) List, a party spokesman said Thursday.

The spokesman said the activist threatened Odeh over the latter’s statements on social media expressing his support for the Palestinian cause.

“Police are investigating the threats in conjunction with Knesset member Odeh and are trying to determine whether the threats were issued against him directly,” a Joint List statement said.

A police spokeswoman told The Times of Israel that the force was “looking into” the affair.

A statement by Odeh said that, “There are those who want us to be either like domesticated animals or [in] a nature reserve, separated from our surroundings. We will continue our struggle using our unique position here, to stand alongside the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation, and to achieve our rights here in our homeland, which is the only one we have.”

Odeh blamed Netanyahu and the government for the “current climate of incitement,” adding “this threat confirms that we are on the correct path of a national and humanitarian narrative that is both courageous and responsible.”