Treat incitement against Israel's Left, Michaeli demands of police chief

The police should carry out quick and decisive action against incitement to violence against the Left and not just against the prime minister or government, Labor Party leader MK Merav Michaeli demanded in a letter to Israel Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai on Tuesday.

"In recent days, the State Attorney's Office, the Shin Bet and Israel Police put out statements regarding law enforcement policy in cases of incitement to violence and calls for harming elected officials," Michaeli wrote in reference to a call last week to take up arms against the government and a post on Facebook on Saturday calling explicitly to assassinate the prime minister.

"The State Attorney's office said that it would 'not hesitate to approve criminal investigations against statements that exceed the limits of freedom of speech', and that 'any such publication on social or mainstream media will be investigated by the Israel Police,'" Michaeli quoted.

"As someone who receives threatening messages on a constant basis and for years has experienced wild incitement on social media and even in personal messages, I bless this policy and call on it to be implemented impartially," Michaeli wrote.

Michaeli: Law must be applied equally between Left and Right

She then demanded that the law be applied equally to incitement from both sides, and called on the commissioner to order the opening of an investigation in several cases, including Likud activist Rami Ben Yehuda's public calls to "neutralize the attorney-general" and Yair Netanyahu's insinuation on Twitter in late December that senior police officers should be executed.

"Right now, there are many threats in the public sphere, on social networks and in the media. I call on you to act quickly, as soon as possible, to investigate the inciters, as the Israel Police proved this week that it is capable of doing."