Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday revealed he has been compared to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in numerous death threats him and his family has received since assuming the office.
He also warned of the rising levels of violence in the Israeli society during a Yesh Atid faction meeting, a little over a day after coalition whip Idit Silman claimed she too was a victim of an extensive harassment campaign, which culminated in an alleged physical assault over her support of the current government.
"This week I received the following message from one ‘Sugar 5948888’: ‘Yair Lapid, I wish you would die of cancer today. You are just like Hitler, you will receive a bullet from me or someone else,” the foreign minister said.
Lapid added that his wife also received several threats, some of which even pertain to their daughter Yaeli Lapid, who was diagnosed with severe autism.
"My wife received the following message from the user ‘Sophie-Ya’: You and Yair deserve punishment from God, even more than the one you got with Yaeli… May God take revenge on you and Yaeli, with more plagues and punishments from him."
“The danger is not only the murder of another politician, because, as terrible as it may sound, it will no longer surprise anyone… The danger is what we are becoming,” said Lapid.
"This violence is permeating everywhere in this country: the roads, the schools. If we do not stop it now, together, we will become nothing but a violent and hateful society."
Lapid also addressed the case of Amit Cohen, an eighth-grade student from the city of Rishon Lezion who was filmed being brutally bullied by his classmates at a local school - which in turn prompted two massive anti-bullying rallies in the city.
"Months of beatings, cursing and humiliation. Do you really think it is unrelated? Our children see us and hear us. Whoever grows up amid poison and violence will grow to be a toxic and violent person,” added Lapid.