National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded Tuesday to the arrest of a Nazareth resident suspected of trying to advance a serious terror plot against him with Hamas backing, saying “this is already the ninth time that terror organizations have targeted me and tried to harm me.”
1+Ben-Gvir added: “I thank the Shin Bet, Israel Police, Prison Service intelligence, the Magen unit, and above all the Almighty—who prevent the terrorists from harming me and my family. I will continue with the prison reform, demolish illegal homes, implement the death penalty law for terrorists, ensure we are the masters of the Temple Mount, open community squads, and arm all Israeli citizens. You won’t scare me and I won’t back down from you. I will continue to work 24/7 for the people of Israel.”
The minister’s response comes after the arrest earlier Tuesday of Muhammad Awwad, a 29-year-old Nazareth resident, on suspicion of trying to recruit for Hamas and advance a terror plot that included plans to attack the minister. The investigation also revealed that before his arrest, the suspect worked as an unarmed security guard at the central bus station in Afula.
1+This incident joins additional plots against the minister that were foiled about four months ago, when a suspect from East Jerusalem in his 20s was arrested after making contact on social media with someone in Yemen. The two conducted conversations with extremist content, encouraged each other to carry out terror attacks, and in one exchange even discussed carrying out a suicide bombing aimed directly at Ben-Gvir.
Another attack attempt was recorded more than six months ago, when the plans of a Hamas cell from the Hebron area operating under the organization’s command in Turkey were thwarted. The Shin Bet investigation revealed that as part of their activities, the suspects purchased several drones on which they intended to mount explosives to carry out the assassination attack on the minister, but the drones were seized during the arrest of the cell members.