Israeli PM’s family receives death threat and bullet in mail

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's teenage son has received a death threat and bullet in the mail, Israeli officials said Thursday, the second such warning against the Israeli leader's family this week.

The threats have come at a time of deep political divisions in Israel.

In a major speech on Wednesday night marking Israel's Holocaust memorial day, Bennett had spoken out against the polarisation in Israel, urging citizens not to let internal divisions rip society apart.

Israeli police said that both incidents were being investigated, but gave few other details, including where the items were sent and who might have sent them.

Bennett has been the target of fierce criticism from Israel's hard-line right-wing since forming his governing coalition last year. In 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish ultranationalist opposed to his peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians.

Bennett's government is made up of eight parties from across the political spectrum, including religious nationalists, centrists and an Islamic party. It is the first Arab party to be part of a governing coalition.

These parties have little in common beyond their shared animosity to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They have agreed to put aside many of their differences while focusing on common ground, such as the economy, managing the coronavirus crisis and spending on education and social services.

Netanyahu, now the opposition leader, has worked hard to undermine the coalition.

Critics have accused Bennett, who leads a small, religious nationalist party, of abandoning his core hard-line beliefs. One member of his Yamina party was sanctioned this week as a “defector” for repeatedly supporting the opposition in hundreds of votes. Another member of his party recently resigned from the coalition, leaving the fragile alliance without a parliamentary majority.

Bennett formed the coalition last June after four inconclusive elections that underscored the fissures in society over key issues as well as the polarising effects of Netanyahu's 12-year rule.

In Wednesday's speech, coming on one of the most solemn days of the year, Bennett implored the nation to put aside its differences.

Bennett's government is made up of eight parties from across the political spectrum, including religious nationalists, centrists and an Islamic party. It is the first Arab party to be part of a governing coalition.

These parties have little in common beyond their shared animosity to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They have agreed to put aside many of their differences while focusing on common ground, such as the economy, managing the coronavirus crisis and spending on education and social services.

Netanyahu, now the opposition leader, has worked hard to undermine the coalition.

Critics have accused Bennett, who leads a small, religious nationalist party, of abandoning his core hard-line beliefs. One member of his Yamina party was sanctioned this week as a “defector” for repeatedly supporting the opposition in hundreds of votes. Another member of his party recently resigned from the coalition, leaving the fragile alliance without a parliamentary majority.

Bennett formed the coalition last June after four inconclusive elections that underscored the fissures in society over key issues as well as the polarising effects of Netanyahu's 12-year rule.

In Wednesday's speech, coming on one of the most solemn days of the year, Bennett implored the nation to put aside its differences.

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