A woman in her 70s was indicted on Thursday for an alleged attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly planning to carry out the attack with an anti-tank weapon.
The State Attorney’s Office filed charges against her with the Tel Aviv District Court for attempting to conspire to commit an act of terror and aggravated murder.
“The defendant, who is involved in political protest activities against the Israeli government, was recently diagnosed with a serious illness and may have only a short time to live,” the indictment read, as cited by Arutz Sheva.
“As a result, she made a decision to assassinate the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, thereby ‘sacrificing’ her life for the struggle against the government and in doing so, ‘saving’ the State of Israel,” the indictment continued.
The defendant attempted to conspire with fellow activists, meeting one of them at her home in late July, the indictment read.
The activist opposed her plan and asked her to wait a few days in an attempt to dissuade her from proceeding, according to the report.
A few days later, the defendant asked him to come over again, and during the meeting, when he tried once more to deter her from carrying out the plan, she asked him to help her acquire a rocket-propelled grenade in order to assassinate the prime minister, according to the indictment.
The woman “also requested his help in gathering information regarding the prime minister’s schedule, movements, location and security arrangements,” it further read.
The defendant ensured that their mobile phones were left outside their meeting room. After the other activist realized he could not dissuade her from the plan, he turned to a lawyer, who then contacted the security services, the indictment added.
The prosecution asked the court to extend the defendant’s full house arrest, according to Arutz Sheva.
In the request, the prosecution articulated the defendant’s dangerousness, as evident from her statements that she is willing to become a “martyr” for the sake of allegedly saving the Jewish state, the report added.
“Regrettably, her illness, which led her to devise a plan to kill the prime minister as a way to end her own life, in a sort of ‘Let me die with the Philistines’ mindset, still exists. Therefore, the concern that she may again attempt to carry out her plan against the prime minister or any other government figure is real and indicates a high level of danger,” the prosecution said, per Arutz Sheva.
The woman was arrested two weeks ago at her home in Tel Aviv.
The suspect, only identified as a woman in her 70s due to a court-ordered gag order imposed on the case, was arrested by Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) officers and interrogated by the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 National Unit for International Crimes, according to the statement.
“To advance and realize her intentions, the suspect contacted additional protest activists to obtain weapons and also inquired about the prime minister’s security arrangements,” police said.
The suspect’s attorneys, Guy Erenberg and Giora Zilberstein, told Kan News on Wednesday: “We have not yet received the indictment and the evidence, and at this stage we cannot comment on the suspicions.”
