The right-wing activist who sent threatening letters to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's family is set to be charged Friday with threatening and extorting the premier.
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Ilana Sporta Hania, a 65-year-old retired nurse and avid supporter of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, is accused of sending death threats with live bullets to Bennett's family. Her indictment lists counts of extortion, intimidation, illegally transporting munitions, and conspiracy to commit a criminal act. The police are still deliberating whether she can also be charged with conspiracy to commit an act of terror.
The two letters were sent last month to Bennett's wife and his teenage son, threatening their safety if the premier did not resign.
On Wednesday, details of the two letters were released.
The first letter, addressed to Bennett and his wife, Gilat, read: "This is the bullet that will hit and neutralize your Gilat the crook, or you Naftali Bennett the crook. You better resign."
Two days later, a letter addressed to Bennett's son, Yonatan, was sent to the family's home in the central town of Ra'anana, reading, "This is the bullet that will hit your soft underbelly Naftali Bennett and directly hit Yoni Bennett if you do not resign."
Hania attempted to enlist the help of other political activists to obtain the workplace address of Gilat Bennett without their knowledge. However, police concluded that Hania alone was responsible for the threats.
She denies any wrongdoing.
The threats were also investigated by the Shin Bet security agency, which provided protection for the prime minister and his family. Police and Shin Bet officials expressed concern that the sender had access to live munitions, effectively meaning that they could carry out the threat.
While it remains unknown at this time how Hania obtained the bullets, what eventually led investigators to her was the fact that the letters bore similarities to threats made in the past against other public officials, including former Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit.
"No stone was left unturned. As part of the investigation, we screened social media posts. The suspect's accounts showed expressions of hate toward the prime minister and we soon realized that she had sent [threatning letters] to other public officials. Those were obtained and they cemented suspicions against her," a police official said.
"She tried to cover her tracks," he added without elaborating. "There is no doubt as to her involvement. Whether or not she meant to go through with it is a good question. We saw a potential and given the past, we took this very seriously," he said.
Following her arrest, Netanyahu said that if any truth were to be found in the accusations against Hanian, she will be expelled from Likud.
"I condemn any kind of violence, against a prime minister or anyone else. If it is proven that the suspect indeed carried out the allegations attributed to her, her membership in Likud would be terminated," he tweeted.
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