Lawmakers on Tuesday expressed shock and ire following the grave incident in which a letter containing a bullet was sent to Gilat Bennett, the prime minister's wife.
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The letter, sent to her place of business, included explicit death threats against the Bennett family and a live round, the police said.
The Israel Security Agency and the Israel Police Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit are investigating the threats. Security for the prime minister and his family has been increased and the investigation has been placed under a gag order.
"A political dispute, no matter how deep it runs, cannot escalate to thuggery, violence and death threats," Bennett wrote on his Twitter page.
"We must spare no effort, as leaders and as citizens whose future and the future of their children is in this country to eradicate such phenomenon.
"We are all human. Arguments and disagreement have their place but violence and threats do not. I'm a prime minister and a politician but I'm also a husband and a father. I have a duty to protect my wife and children. We have to tone down the political rhetoric," he wrote.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, "The death threats to the prime minister are a sad reminder of where escalation can lead. We will continue to fight the hatred on the streets, online, and everywhere. We won't let extremists scare us. They will not win against the sane majority."
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, "Death threats against the prime minister's family cross a red line. Enticement has already resulted in a political assassination. One bullet in an envelope can turn into three shots fired," he said, referring to the Nov. 4, 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
"I trust the police and the Shin Bet will apprehend those responsible for this. Even in days of severe disagreement, we all have a duty to remember that our unity and resilience are the basis of our strength."
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called the threats "utterly shocking," adding, "It is unthinkable that the head of the Jewish state will face mortal danger at home. The Israel Police will find those who attempted to raise their hands against Israeli democracy and will bring them to justice."
Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich denounced the threat, while questioning its validity.
"I don't know whether saying that is an investigation into death threats against Bennett is a media spin that aims to improve his public standing and delegitimize the Right's protest against him, or a real event, but I do know that violence must always be out of bounds," he tweeted.
"However, the days when the Right is muzzled with called of 'incitement' are over," he continued. "Madmen exist on both sides [of the political aisle] and law enforcement must deal with them and prevent violence but that has nothing to do with strong political criticism of the terrible things Bennett and his partners are doing.
"We oppose violence of any kind and we will continue to criticize the government and strive to replace it without delay."
Religious Zionist Party MK Orit Strock was more clear-cut in her condemnation of the threats, tweeting, "Oppose this terrible government – yes. Explain, high and low, why it has wronged the voters and is a danger to the country's identity – yes. Act and pray to its replacement – yes (it's only a matter of time). But violence and threats? Absolutely not!"
Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment publicly on the threats, but his son, Yair, called out the Shin Bet and the police for not taking the threats against his family seriously.
"The explicit threats against my father, the gallows and guillotines in Balfour [street in Jerusalem] with his effigy, and the explicit threats against and against my mother and me are a direct result of Yair Lapid's endless incitement against us for years," he wrote.
"It's just unbelievable! Three times handwritten letters were received at my father's office, with an explicit threat to murder me and my mother! The head of the Shin Bet ignored and yawned, and the police have not opened an investigation!
"The only thing the Shin Bet did was cut security for my mother, me and Avner by six months – after the death threats were made," he continued.
"There's never any 'incitement' on the Left, only 'art,' 'protest' and 'freedom of expression,'" he remarked. "On the Right, however, breathing is enough for the Left to cry 'incitement!'"
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