A resident of Kafr Kanna was arrested for threatening MK Itamar Ben-Gvir (Religious Zionists), which included a picture of bullets with the threat to kill him and his family, the Israel Police said on Sunday.
ההסתה והאיומים נגדי ממשיכים כל העת, והלילה קיבלתי תמונת כדורי רובה והבטחה להרוג אותי ואת משפחתי. אני קורא לגורמים בשב"כ ולפוליטיקאים להפסיק להסית נגדי, ואין לי ספק שכל מקהלת חברי הכנסת מהשמאל שהאשימו השבוע את הימין באיומים על בנט תגנה גם איומים שמגיעים ממחנה השמאל. pic.twitter.com/u06Ig4rkoD
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) April 29, 2022
Ben-Gvir responded to the arrest by harshly criticizing the Shin Bet.
"Unfortunately there are those who saw the quote of the Shin Bet's comments against me [depicting me as] 'a charge that needs to be neutralized' and Bennett and Lapid's silence when I am threatened as [a reason] to continue threatening not just me but my family as well," he said. "The Shin Bet must explicitly and officially renounce its comments against me, and Bennett and Lapid must condemn the threats against me just as I absolutely denounce the threats against Bennett," he said.
There is no evidence that the Shin Bet actually made those comments.
Ben-Gvir began to criticize the Shin Bet last week after he was denied entry to the Temple Mount due to security concerns. He accused Shin Bet head Ronen Bar of failing to prevent terrorism and for choosing to focus on Ben-Gvir instead.
In a rare statement released on Friday, the Shin Bet in response said that Ben-Gvir’s ascension to the Temple Mount would with “near certainty” have caused “significant damage to national security” and may have led to civilians, soldiers and police officers being harmed.
Although the statement did not mention Ben-Gvir by name, it was clearly responding to the government's decision regarding the controversial MK.
“The Shin Bet is fully aware of the importance of freedom of movement in general, and that of Knesset members in particular, but, in this extremely unusual case, an assessment based on intelligence was given that predicted with near-certainty significant damage to national security," the statement read.
כשהר הבית בוער והפיגועים הולכים ומתגברים השב"כ חייב להתעסק בביטחון המדינה ולא בתדרוך נגדי. מילים יכולות להרוג! pic.twitter.com/kxGV6tzwDW
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) April 29, 2022
“It is the Shin Bet’s duty and mission to prevent in advance an act that may lead to a security escalation that may harm civilians, soldiers and police officers,” the statement continued, adding that the agency “will continue fulfilling its duty and mission according to the law, and passing on independent and professional assessments that, at their core, aim to prevent harm to the security of the nation and its citizen.”