Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled campaign appearance at an event in southern Israel on Monday, shortly after a terrorist group from Gaza released a threatening video addressed to the prime minister.
The incident recalled two similar episodes in 2019, when Netanyahu was forced to take shelter during campaign events in the south due to rocket fire, generating humiliating images for Netanyahu and ammunition for his political opponents.
Netanyahu canceled his Monday night event at a cultural center in Ashkelon at the last minute, leaving his supporters waiting for him for more than two hours. In the end, he talked to the audience through a video and apologized for not showing up.
Get the daily edition of The Times of Israel by email and never miss our top news Subscribe for free
Netanyahu initially said he had not attended the event for reasons he could not elaborate on, while his associates said that “political discussions” were to blame, according to Channel 12.
But in an interview on Tuesday with the news site Ynet, Netanyahu said he missed the event because he was having “an important diplomatic conversation with a leader in the region”, adding that the public would hear details about that call in the future.
Just before the event, Gaza-based Islamic Palestinian terrorist group Jihad released a video showing its members preparing to fire rockets at Israel. At the end of the video, there was footage of Netanyahu leaving an event after the 2019 rocket incidents. On top of the image was the Hebrew text, “You forget”.
Islamic Jihad is smaller than the terrorist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, but has direct support from Iran, has a considerable arsenal and has in the past been more willing than Hamas to generate conflict with Israel.
In September 2019, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets near a Netanyahu campaign event in Ashdod, forcing the prime minister to leave the stage briefly and protect himself.
רגע הפינוי של ראש הממשלה נתניהו, אחרי שהופעלה אזעקה באשוד. pic.twitter.com/Y2KLOnrx8d
– almog boker (@bokeralmog) September 10, 2019
For many rivals, scenes of Netanyahu being taken away by a group of bodyguards provided a counterpoint to the image he was trying to cultivate in his campaign as Mr. Security, highlighting what critics said was his government’s failure to deal with the Gaza terrorist attacks. groups.
Both leaders of right and left political parties, including Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman, criticized Netanyahu because of the episode.
Months later, in December 2019, Palestinian terrorists fired a rocket at Ashkelon while Netanyahu campaigned in the city, prompting him to be taken offstage and to protect himself.
None of the incidents resulted in injuries.
At the time, Netanyahu was trying to draw a line between keeping Gaza groups prevented from attacking Israel and, at the same time, being cautious not to push the Strip into a new war. Critics criticized him for reaching a series of tacit ceasefire agreements with Hamas.
There were also regular mass protests on the Gaza border at the time, which often turned violent.
The Israel-Gaza border has been relatively quiet for the past year, as both Israel and Hamas are fighting COVID-19.
Last week, Hamas blamed Israel for the explosion that killed three fishermen off the coast of Gaza, prompting several armed factions in Gaza to swear revenge, including Islamic Jihad.
Terrorists from Palestinian Islamic Jihad attend a symbolic funeral for former leader of the Ramadan Shalah movement in Gaza City the day after his death in Lebanon, June 7, 2020. (Ail Ahmed / Flash90)
Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bozm said the three fishermen were killed in an explosion caused by an Israeli drone shot down and trapped in their net.
Israel has denied any involvement in the incident.
Observers suspected that a mortar or rocket launched by Hamas had unintentionally hit the fishermen’s boat, killing them instantly. Hamas regularly fires experimental rockets into the sea, both to test its military capabilities and to show its strength.
Israel will hold elections, the fourth in two years, on March 23.
Netanyahu is defending himself from right and left opponents, while polls predict a political stalemate after the vote.
The next elections were called after the Likud power-sharing government of Netanyahu and Blue and White failed to agree on a budget within 23 December.
The election, like the previous three votes, is widely seen as a referendum on the Netanyahu government in the midst of the ongoing trial on corruption charges, as well as how his government handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
