The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on Monday threatened the life of far-right Otmza Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir.
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"Ben-Gvir will suffer the same fate as Rehavam Zeevi," said the PIJ, referring to a former Israeli minister that was assassinated in October of 2001 by a squad of Palestinians terrorists acting on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
PIJ spokesman Tarek Ezz El-Din said that Zeevi "carried the ideology of a transfer and expulsion of the Arabs from the land of Palestine and as a result, he was expelled from life by Palestinians."
Zeevi advocated for the deportation of Arabs from Israel, while Ben-Gvir has said he wants to deport only some Arabs, saying in August: "There is a difference between those who want to eliminate the Jewish state and those who don't."
The far-right lawmaker continued that the deportees would be sent on "trains, planes, whatever you want."
El-Din continued that Ben-Gvir's designation of national security minister – as part of the coalition deal signed with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu – "will only hasten the disappearance of the occupation."
In response to the statement from the terror group, Ben-Gvir said later on Monday that "the threats of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group will not deter me."
"We are committed to restoring security to Israel's citizens. The time has come to form a fully right-wing government so that we can crush the Islamic Jihad," he added.
In late May, Israel's security forces uncovered a Hamas terror cell in east Jerusalem that was planning a series of attacks, including against Ben-Gvir. In response, Ben-Gvir blamed left-wing activists as well as then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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