Tel Aviv, January 06: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has received dozens of death threats since the government ordered a slowdown in construction of illegal homes for Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
All Jewish sentiments are illegal under international law since they are built on Arab land – mainly Palestinian – illegally occupied by Israel.
The minister’s security detail was beefed up amid concerns of potential attacks by Jewish extremists, public radio said.
The letters threatening Barak’s life were received in the weeks after the government announced in November a 10-month moratorium on issuing permits for construction in occupied West Bank settlements, the Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported.
Channel 10 news on Tuesday showed one such letter received by Barak’s office which is responsible for implementing the moratorium imposed after months of US pressure.
“If you think of destroying the settlements, you are mistaken, and I will kill you,” the anonymous letter said.
A security official compared the current atmosphere to that which preceded the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the hands of a Jewish extremists on November 4, 1995, Yediot Aharonot said.
The Shin Bet domestic security agency believes there are dozens of Jewish extremists who would be prepared to attack high-ranking officials if they feel the settlement enterprise is threatened, the newspaper said.
Barak’s office declined to comment on the reports.
Nearly half a million Israelis live in illegal settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank, including Palestinian East Jerusalem, all of which are considered illegal by the international community.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has said he will not relaunch peace talks suspended nearly a year ago during the Gaza war unless Israel freezes all illegal settlement construction.
—Agencies