The Amcha Yisrael party reported Monday an escalation in threats and incitement against Yoseph Haddad, the No. 2 candidate on its list, following his decision to join the party and run on its ticket in the upcoming elections.
1+Since the party launched its campaign in Arab society, Haddad has been hit with threats on social media, including direct messages threatening his life, according to both him and the party. In one message, an Arab-Israeli user wrote: “The days will come, and we’ll see who gets murdered.”
Alongside the personal threats, a party billboard near Shfaram featuring Haddad next to party chairman Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter was vandalized. The words “Haddad is a traitor” were spray-painted across it.
1+Haddad responded: “The extremists in Arab society are scared of the message Amcha Yisrael is bringing, and rightfully so. They don’t want a party that will take care of Nazareth, Shfaram, and Rahat—they want Ramallah, Jenin, and Gaza again. Who am I betraying? My country? My society? If they think their threats and incitement will intimidate me or stop me, they’re badly mistaken. We’ll keep going full force and bring two mandates from Arab society despite the fury of the extremists.”
Party chairman Brig. Gen. Winter described the danger in the severe incitement against Haddad: “Using the word traitor and the murder threats on social media raise the danger level to new heights. Amcha Yisrael and I will stand by Yoseph in the complex mission he’s taken upon himself to explain Israel to the world, and we won’t allow anyone to harm him or threaten his life.”