Armed Volunteer Arrested in Israel Over Unprecedented Threats Against Netanyahu

An emergency response team member in Israel has been arrested following a series of unprecedented online threats calling for the assassination and decapitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other public figures. The suspect, who held an assault rifle as part of his volunteer duties, was detained on Friday by the National Cyber Unit at Lahav 433.

According to police investigators, the suspect published numerous extreme posts on the X platform between October 19 and October 22. The messages included explicit calls to shoot the Prime Minister, burn his body beyond recognition, and behead political figures with an axe. In one post addressed directly to Netanyahu, the suspect wrote that he deserved a bullet to the head or burning at high temperatures.

During police interrogation, the suspect confessed to operating the account and publishing the statements, acknowledging that his words could potentially incite others to violence. However, he claimed the remarks were made in the heat of the political and security climate and that he never intended to carry out physical attacks, emphasizing his volunteer background.

Police representatives described the scale, intensity, and vulgarity of the posts as unprecedented, noting the severe timing ahead of elections and near the memorial of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The Cyber Prosecutor's Office is overseeing the case, and the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court extended the suspect's detention by four days.