The Israel Police on Thursday asked the Acre Magistrate’s Court to extend by six days the detention of Yolanda Yavor, who was arrested the previous night on suspicion of incitement to violence against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The graduate research assistant at Tel Aviv University allegedly posted a series of inciting remarks on social media. It is unclear which post led to her arrest, but on Sept. 10, Yavor shared a Facebook video of protesters setting the private residence of Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on fire, accompanied by the writing in Hebrew, “This is the way.”
A police source told broadcaster Channel 14, “The suspect’s activity has been monitored for some time, and we are aware of all the violent and inciting discourse she publishes. It is important to remember that in the State of Israel there is a fine line separating incitement from freedom of expression, and therefore we waited for a moment when it would be easier to prove to the prosecution that there is indeed a real danger and threat.”
The anonymous source, reportedly connected to the case, continued: “The posts written by the suspect could lead to the murder of public officials, and the public must know that we are working around the clock to identify incitement on social media and bring the suspects to justice.”
Yavor, a resident of Or Akiva, frequently attends protests outside the private residence of the Netanyahu family in nearby Caesarea.
She has been arrested more than 10 times during these demonstrations, according to outlet Walla News.
The police asked her on Wednesday to appear at the police station in the city of Hadera for questioning, Walla reported. The scholar replied that she would first consult with a lawyer, after which police officers arrived at her home and arrested her. She was taken to a police station in Umm al-Fahm, per Walla.
On Thursday morning, Yavor was brought to a hearing regarding the extension of her detention at the Acre Magistrate’s Court.
In the past, she said that she is not afraid of the police. Walla quoted her as saying that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose ministry oversees the Israel Police, “armed the lunatics; I hope our side is stockpiling weapons too.”
Also on Thursday, Ben-Gvir tweeted about the previous night’s assassination of conservative influencer and prominent media figure Charlie Kirk in the United States.
“The left in the U.S. managed to murder a right-wing person; let’s hope their imitators in Israel won’t succeed. Words can kill,” the minister tweeted in Hebrew.
The Tel Aviv University website lists Yavor under the Departments of Bible and Arabic and Islamic Studies.
