A letter containing threats against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was placed on the grave of his brother Yoni Netanyahu on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem. Israel Police confirmed the incident.
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The police stated it will open a joint investigation with the Shin Bet internal security agency, saying it will find the author of the letter. Earlier this week, the prime minister and his brother Ido Netanyahu took part in a commemoration in memory of Yoni.
"What's going on Yoni - you hero? How's it going for you up above?" Ah, I forgot, you're probably standing in place and there's not much room to advance," was written in the opening of the letter.
"It's my request to tell your brother, Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu, that he has a few rights or a lot of rights, but they have ended. And now, Mount Herzl, this sanctified place, has the clock ticking down, until October 13, 2023, when your brother, the son of ..., thinks he will turn 74," the author threatened the prime minister's life using his Hebrew calendar birthday.
"Be clear, this is a threat of the first level," the letter ended with another smiley and in English, "red alert level."
This wasn't the first such threat on his life. In 2022, Netanyahu's chief of staff filed a complaint after a murder threat was posted on Twitter. "This man must be killed quickly before it's too late," the message read.
The Beersheba District Court recently increased the sentence of Asher Ben David, who had been convicted of threats against Netanyahu. Ben David was imprisoned for 13 months after the city's Magistrate's Court previously sentenced him to eight months of community service.
"It is necessary to be stricter with anyone who seeks to change government systems through threats and influence the democratic system in this way," the court said at the time.
The panel of judges, led by Judge Yoel Aden, stated that "the sentence must include effective imprisonment, and it must also express the need to deter anyone who thinks that any objective can be promoted by threats".
According to the indictment, he called for Netanyahu's murder on his Twitter account in 2020, which also included him asking "Does anyone know about preparations to assassinate the prime minister? I'd love to be involved. I think the time has come!"
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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