A Tiberias resident in his 50s was arrested after issuing threats against Druze IDF official and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj.-Gen. Ghassan Alian on Sunday night, the Israel Police announced on Monday morning.
The suspect posted on Facebook that the COGAT chief was “a strategic security threat to the State of Israel at the level of a ticking bomb” and that “Ghassan Alian is a Hamas agent in an IDF uniform.”
In another post, he wrote that the official was “a Hamas terrorist Nazi in an IDF uniform who armed Hamas and Fatah in Gaza and Judea and Samaria with hundreds of thousands of weapons and ammunition for tens of billions of shekels to pocket in order to destroy the State of Israel.”
He added, “Pray for the death of Ghassan Alian.” In a third post, he wrote: “A thief, a rapist, a terrorist, a criminal, a pervert of Jews is destroyed, Alian is a ticking bomb that threatens... lives.”
Without providing evidence, the suspect posted that he had photos and recordings proving Alian had received “bribes in huge sums in exchange for ‘coordinating’ an import of goods and ‘equipment’ to Hamas in Gaza and entry permits to Israel.” Further, he said half of Tiberias’ police force were terrorists and the wider Israel Police was corrupt.
The Northern District Police recently received reports of the posts and determined that the content contained a threat against a senior security official.
The suspect will appear before the Tiberias Magistrate’s Court on Monday, as the police seek an extension of his detention.
Condemning threats against IDF official Alian
Attorney Moti Melnik, representing the public defender’s office, said, “This is a normative guy. He claims he had no intention of harming the officer and that the publications were part of a social protest activity and within the framework of freedom of expression.”
However, Defense Minister Israel Katz condemned the comments, saying that serious threats were directed at Maj.-Gen. Alian.
“Violence and threats against IDF officers and members of the security establishment are a criminal act and a redline that must not be crossed under any circumstances – certainly not in the days when our fighters and commanders carry Israel’s security on their shoulders,” the defense minister said.
“I support Ghassan and emphasize that we will not tolerate any attempt to harm or threaten those who dedicate their lives to the security of the State of Israel. I congratulate the Israel Police officers who arrested the suspect and expect the enforcement authorities to bring him to justice.”