Olmert: Attack on Prof. Sternhell a threat to democracy

"An evil streak of radicalism, malice, hatred and disregard of State law is threatening Israeli democracy," said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.

Olmert went on to condemn the attack on left-wing Professor Ze'ev Sternhell, who was wounded after unknown persons detonated a pipe bomb at his front door on Thursday.

"One cannot help but see the resemblance between the murder of Emil Greenzweig (a Peace Now activist who was killed in 1983 during a political march in Jerusalem), the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the attack on the professor," said the prime minister.

The attack was widely condemned by political leader spanning the entire political spectrum.  

The Shin Bet and the Israel police are in the midst of investigating the grave incident. One of the leads probed is that of several threatening messages allegedly posted on a right-wing internet forum, against left-wing activist.

"On September 25, we – the members of the true right – will launch a vendetta against a senior leftists figure," said one of the messages.

Police are struggling with the fact that the message did not carry a date stamp, preventing them from establishing whether or not it was posted near the time of the attack on Sternhell.

Sternhell, who moderately wounded in the attack and released from hospital on Thursday evening, said he would not bow to threats: "From the moment I returned home, my life is back on track, as it was until now.

"There will no change whatsoever. I'll continue locking the doors, not because what happened but due to the multiple burglaries in the area, and I'll continue to preach and voice my views as I have done till now."