Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Monday that he, his family, or other top Israeli officials could become the victim of a Trump-inspired assassination attempt in the midst of the months-long war with Hamas.
“There is an incitement to violence and murder of elected officials here. It can happen because there is incitement to violence and murder of elected officials, of ministers, of the prime minister, of his family,” Mr. Netanyahu told an Israeli broadcaster Channel 14 on Monday when he was asked about the Trump assassination attempt on Saturday, according to a translation from Hebrew into English.
He added that the calls to violence are “almost on an hourly basis” and “on such a scale that it’s impossible to believe ... chants of ’traitor,‘ ’murderer,’ ‘you should be finished like Ceausescu,’ ‘like Mussolini,’ etc.” are being stated, referring to the Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, who, along with his wife, were publicly executed during the collapse of his regime in 1989.
Elaborating on potential threats, he said that some individuals “are sending private investigators against my son” and making “rape threats against my wife,” adding that the location of his family is often shared publicly, which has led to threats from Hamas against him and family members.
“There are also threats of violence, threats of rape, other threats and slander against my wife,” the Israeli prime minister continued. “No one is doing anything about it,” he also said in the interview.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the shooter at the Trump rally, and authorities believe that he acted alone. No motive has been established, the FBI has said.
In the incident, the former president’s right ear was struck by a bullet as he appeared to turn his head slightly while speaking at the rally before U.S. Secret Service agents dove on the former president and whisked him away to safety. The shooter was shot and killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper soon after he opened fire, officials said.
Other than his ear injury, former President Trump was unharmed. But the shooter killed a spectator, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, and wounded two others who police officials say are in stable condition.
The former president’s campaign has pressed onward, and he appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee on Monday along with his newly announced running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has urged Americans to refrain from making assumptions about the motive until an investigation plays out because law enforcement officials “don’t yet have any information about the motive of the shooter.”
“Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job,” he said in a Sunday night address from the White House’s Oval Office. “I’ve instructed that this investigation be thorough and swift. And the investigators will have every resource they need to get this done.”
As for the shooting suspect, few details about his political beliefs or motivation have been revealed so far. Classmates who attended the same Pittsburgh-area high school he went to have told media outlets, including The Epoch Times, that he was relentlessly bullied.
Mr. Netanyahu is slated to deliver an address to Congress about the Israel-Hamas conflict next week. Last week, the president announced on X that Israel and Hamas came to an agreement on a “comprehensive framework” to reach a cease-fire agreement and a return of Israeli hostages that Hamas took during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
