Israel’s attorney general reports death threats to police

Avichai Mandelblit reported death threats and other harassment, which justice ministry officials say may be linked to protesters who oppose corruption cases against the prime minister.

By World Israel News and AP

Israel’s attorney general filed a police complaint over threats he said he received over the past day, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday.

A statement from the ministry said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit received threats in messages sent to his cellphone.

“These threats and harassment, which appear to have been coordinated, continued during all hours of the night and morning,” the statement said.

According to a report by Channels 12 and 13, the messages included death threats against Mandelblit and his family, one of which depicted the attorney general in a Nazi uniform.

The reports on Israeli television quoted justice ministry officials as saying they believe the threatening messages are connected to a protest set to be staged near Mandelblit’s Petah Tikva residence this weekend. Demonstrators plan to protest Mandelblit’s decision to press charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three corruption cases.

Some Netanyahu allies view the attorney general — a former Netanyahu Cabinet secretary who was appointed to his current post by the Israeli leader — as a driving force behind the prime minister’s legal woes.

The threats against Mandelblit come ahead of the start of Netanyahu’s corruption trial on May 24, where he will face charges of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust over a series of scandals.

Netanyahu is accused of exchanging regulatory favors with media moguls for more favorable media coverage of himself and his family. He denies wrongdoing and has frequently characterized the lawsuits as the machinations of a hostile media and a biased justice system bent on ousting him.