Several people fired flares at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home Sunday morning, igniting a fire next to it.
Shocking video of the incident shows the moment one of the two flares is fired at the house in Caesarea, landing in the yard and starting a fire beside a central air unit.
Three people were arrested in the incident, which occurred when the PM and his family were not at home.
It should not be “possible for the Prime Minister of Israel, who is threatened by Iran and its proxies who are trying to assassinate him, to be subject to the same threats from home,” said newly appointed Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Police noted that there was no damage to the house as a result of the flares.
Officials did not immediately name the three suspects who were arrested.
Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major-crimes unit and Shin Bet intelligence agency said they are investigating the incident, which they slammed as a “dangerous escalation” of the protests targeting the embattled prime minister, the Times of Israel said.
Netanyahu stands under increased scrutiny over not just the ongoing war in Gaza and Lebanon but also for corruption charges that a judge recently ruled he would have to stand on trial for come December.
Officials from all spectrums of Israel’s leadership condemned Sunday’s crime, with President Isaac Herzog urging his citizens to avoid political violence at such a tumultuous time.
“The flames must not be allowed to escalate. I am again warning against an increase in violence in the public sphere,” Herzog said in a statement.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and National Unity Chairman Benny Gantz also issued statements condemning political violence in any form and urging law enforcement to bring the guilty parties to justice.
Amir Ohana, the speaker of Israel’s parliament, claimed the incident was a direct result of the Israeli justice department failing to crack down on heated discourse as it pushed for Netanyahu to stand trial.
“The writing was on the walls, on the roads, in inflammatory posts and in demonstrations,” Ohana said, according to the Times of Israel.
“The shooting at the prime minister’s house tonight is a direct result of a policy that for the past few years has ignored the escalation in words and deeds.”
The incident comes just a month after Netanyahu’s house was hit by an explosive Hezbollah drone, with the blast splintering one of the prime minister’s bedroom windows.
The trees near the window were also blown off and burned by the exploding UAV, but the damage was limited to the outside as the window was made of reinforced glass, officials said.
With Post wires
