Safed man indicted for threatening to assassinate Netanyahu
Police request continued detention for 29-year-old who wrote, ‘I will shoot him. He just needs to fall into my hands,’ in Facebook post this week
A man from the northern town of Safed who threatened to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on Thursday, police announced.
In a Facebook post this week, the 29-year-old wrote, “I will shoot him. He just needs to fall into my hands.”
Police say they picked the man up for questioning shortly after he wrote the post. After an indictment for publishing threats was filed at the Kiryat Shmona Magistrate’s Court, police requested that the suspect’s remand be extended.
Thursday’s indictment was the latest charge sheet amid a recent crackdown on Israelis making online threats against the prime minister. Earlier this month, another indictment was filed against a Beersheba resident who is accused of threatening the premier on social media.
The man, 39, was arrested following an investigation by the Lahav 433 national crime unit’s cyber division. He was identified by Hebrew media as Asher Ben Dor.
According to court papers filed at the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court, Ben Dor tweeted last month: “Anyone know about preparations to assassinate the prime minister? Anyone know…it seems the time has come, it seems to be that it has become unbearable.”
He also allegedly threatened Netayahu’s son Yair, tweeting, “Yair, my dear, every dog has its day. What is going on? Your home is shaking? The walls are thin, we can hear your heart beating.”
Last month an Ashkelon man was indicted for posting threats to Netanyahu on social media. Tzvi Sabag, 57, was accused of penning Facebook posts with direct threats against the premier in November of last year and also threatening Yair Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has recently made several complaints to police over threats to harm him and his family.
Last month he made such accusations against an unspecified social media user he said had threatened to murder him and his wife.
Also in June, a man was arrested for threatening Netanyahu in a social media post, police said, without providing further details on the threats. The suspect, a 21-year-old resident of the north of Israel, was arrested by the cyber unit of the police’s Lahav 433 national crime squad.
A month earlier, left-wing activist Haim Shadmi was called in for questioning under caution by police for allegedly threatening Yair Netanyahu. The questioning came after a video clip released by the prime minister showed a demonstration outside his official residence, in which a masked demonstrator, Shadmi, said: “Yair, remember our promise. It seems far-fetched. Believe us, we told you all along, we know why you need security guards… one day you’ll be without guards and then… who knows?”
Yair Netanyahu is intensely active online. He has a history of posting incendiary messages on social media and tweets fast and often against those he believes have wronged him and his family.
