Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the incident and warned “an escalation of violence in the public sphere”.
Three suspects were arrested after two flares were fired Saturday evening near the private residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was not at the scene, police and the Shin Beth (internal security service) said Sunday morning ).
“During the night, three suspects were arrested for their involvement in the incident”which took place in Caesarea, in the center of the country, they said in a statement, adding that the judiciary ordered a ban on the publication of information on the investigation or the identity of the suspects for a period of 30 days.
“Around 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. GMT), two flares landed in the courtyard in front of the prime minister’s residence”the police and the Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service, said in a joint statement. “The prime minister and his family were not in the house”they added, referring to “a serious incident” et “a dangerous escalation”.
The origin of the shots was not specified. Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the incident and warned “an escalation of violence in the public sphere”. “I just spoke with the head of the Shin Bet and insisted on the urgency of investigating” and to place the authors before their responsibilities “as soon as possible”he said on X.
Protest activists?
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of the right-wing Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu, accused the anti-government protest movement of fueling the attack. “The writing was on the walls, on the roads, in the inflammatory messages and in the demonstrations”he wrote on X.
In opposition, Benny Gantz, former member of the Israeli war cabinet and leader of the National Union party (center), also pointed to a drift in the protest movement. “If the suspicions are well-founded and if protest activists are behind the firing of flares at the Prime Minister’s house, it must be said clearly and unambiguously: this is not a protest, it is terrorism”he wrote on X.
“While I deeply disagree with Netanyahu and often criticize him, and while I have no doubt that the people should re-elect their leaders…Netanyahu is not a murderer and “is not an enemy, we must only demonstrate against him and against the government in accordance with the law”he added.
Drone attack
On October 22, a drone was fired in the direction of this same residence and hit a «structure» from Caesarea, the prime minister’s office said. Also absent at that time, Benjamin Netanyahu then accused “Hezbollah, ally of Iran”to have “tent” to murder him and his wife, ensuring that they “pay a high price”. Three days later, the Lebanese Islamist movement, supported by Tehran, claimed responsibility for the attack.
“We announce our full and sole responsibility for the Caesarea operation (…) which targeted the war criminal Netanyahu”declared Mohammad Afif, head of media relations for the movement. Israel launched a military offensive in Lebanon in September in order to neutralize Hezbollah in the border regions of the south of the country and thus allow the return, to the north of its own territory, of inhabitants displaced by more than a year of fire. rockets.
The Lebanese movement launched on October 8, 2023 a “support front” to Hamas, the day after the unprecedented attack on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, which triggered the war in Gaza.
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