Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has received top-level security protection following assassination threats from Palestinian terrorist organizations, the Ynet news outlet reported on Wednesday night.
Smotrich, a resident of the western Samaria community of Kedumim, has recently been accompanied by five guards around the clock, which is reportedly an unprecedented measure for a Cabinet minister.
The upped security surrounding Smotrich is similar to that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sources familiar with the matter told Ynet on Wednesday. The Religious Zionist Party chief is now among the five most protected individuals in the Jewish state.
Like other government ministers, Smotrich is secured by the “Magen” protection unit of the Prime Minister’s Office and not by the personal security unit of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the report noted.
The news of the right-wing minister’s increased security came in the wake of Monday’s deadly terror shooting in the Arab village of Al-Funduq, located some 1.5 miles southwest of Kedumim.
Following the attack, in which three Israelis were killed and seven others were wounded, Smotrich emphasized that terrorism in Samaria, Judea, the Gaza Strip and Iran is interconnected and must be defeated.
“Anyone who relies on the Palestinian Authority to secure the safety of Israeli citizens is waking up to a morning where terrorists are again slaughtering Jewish residents,” Smotrich wrote in a post on social media. “Funduq, Nablus and Jenin must look like Jabaliya [in the Gaza Strip], so that Kfar Saba does not, God forbid, become Gaza,” he added.
Smotrich demanded that Netanyahu “urgently convene the Cabinet today for a discussion on changing the strategy and for a real elimination of terror in Judea and Samaria,” he announced.
Responding to Smotrich, the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization described the remarks as an incitement to expand a “fascist war of extermination” and labeled the Israeli minister a “terrorist.”
In May, Smotrich demanded similar military action after Palestinian terrorist organizations opened fire on central Israeli towns and cities from the Tulkarem area of western Samaria twice in one week.
“Terrorism must be eradicated everywhere, even if it means Tulkarem will look like Gaza looks today,” said Smotrich, who also oversees civilian issues in Judea and Samaria inside the Defense Ministry.
The Shin Bet thwarted more than 1,000 significant terrorist attacks in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem in 2024, according to its annual report, published on Dec. 31. Most of the foiled attacks involved firearms (689) and explosive devices (326) with others being stabbings, car-rammings, suicide bombings and abductions.