Sderot police arrested a young man Tuesday morning after he allegedly threatened Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is in the southern town for the Sderot Conference. "It is not certain that you will be around in 2013,and we know where you live," he said.
The suspect is being questioned at the Sderot police station. Mainstream media, which turns anonymous threats against leftists into screaming headlines, is barely reporting the incident.
The hecklers shouted "the Negev demands social justice!" and "You are not uniting society, you are dividing it!" They received loud applause. They also shouted slogans against the employment of contract workers.
Steinitz, who struggled unsuccessfully to complete his lecture, spoke of the vital need to prevent mass unemployment, "which enlarges gaps and humiliates not only the people themselves but their families."
Leftists organized mass demonstrations against the government's economic policy all summer long, demanding a more socialistic economy. As a result of the protests, some experts claim, investments in Israel have slowed down and the economy may be headed toward a recession.