A day after Tzipi Livni's associates accused members of the Habayit Hayehudi party of wild incitement against the justice minister surrounding the expected release of 26 Palestinian security prisoners this week, the Justice Ministry's security chief filed a complaint with Jerusalem District Police on Sunday after threats to assassinate Livni and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were posted on the former's Facebook page.
One of the post's on Livni's Facebook page read, "I pray that one of the Hilltop Youth murders you or Netanyahu. You are a group of miserable people. I pray that someone murders you. Traitor. A servant of the enemy."
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The commenter repeated the threat in another post. "I pray that one of the Hilltop Youth murders Tzipi Livni. A wretched woman," he wrote.
The head of security at the Justice Ministry also notified the Shin Bet internal security service about the threats.
Apart from the threats, Livni's Facebook page was filled with insults. One commenter wrote, "You and all those who voted (in favor of the prisoners' release) belong in jail, or in a terror attack."
Livni's office said in response: "The justice minister will continue to conduct the negotiations responsibly while preserving Israel's interests, and her decisions will not be influenced by extremists and threats."
Hatnua party leader Livni is Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians. In July, the cabinet approved the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, 26 of whom were freed in August. Israel agreed to release the prisoners in four batches over nine months, as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority to help create a positive atmosphere for the renewed negotiation process, which began in July and is slated to end in March.
On Sunday, a ministerial committee approved the release of a second group of Palestinian prisoners incarcerated for over 20 years for their involvement in terror attacks against Israelis.
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