Israel security chief warns of grave consequences after threats against Yamina
Tel Aviv, Jun 6 (Sputnik): The head of Israel’s Security Agency Shin Bet, Nadav Argaman, is warning against incitement, including on social media, amid high political tensions in Israel that could lead to possible physical harm, The Haaretz reports.
Argaman says threats have been made against chairman of the Yamina right-wing political alliance Naftali Bennett and other members of his party, the newspaper said on Saturday.
The threats came after their decision to enter into a government with Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid and other Israeli parties seeking to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Argaman pointed out that there has been dangerous radicalization in public discourse, expressions of violence and incitement, primarily on social media. He warned that such a discourse can be interpreted by certain groups or entities as a permission for illegal and violent actions that could lead to possible assassination attempts.
Earlier this week, Israel’s ruling Likud party accused Facebook and Twitter of censoring the right-wing political force amid opposition calls to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin gave Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s largest opposition party Yesh Atid, a mandate to form a coalition government after Netanyahu failed to do it following the March inconclusive elections. On Wednesday, the presidency said that Naftali Bennett, the Yamina head, would become the country’s new prime minister on a rotation basis, and be replaced by Lapid after about two years.
