Attorney David Hodek was questioned on Sunday at the offices of the Lahav 433 unit of the Israel Police, which is tasked with investigating national crimes and corruption, on suspicion of the crime of incitement to violence.
Hodek caused an uproar last week after he said during a conference of the Israel Bar Association, "I will not live in a dictatorship even if it means fighting with weapons."
Hodek apologized for his remarks and said, "My words were misinterpreted. I oppose violence. I have never acted violently. We must not be dragged into a civil war. There will only be losers from such a war." At the end of the interrogation, he was released on bail.
Retired IAF pilot Ze’ev Raz, who was questioned on suspicion of inciting violence and threats, also arrived at Lahav 433 after his post on Facebook on Saturday in which he seemingly called to murder the Prime Minister on the charges of "rodef", a traditional Jewish law that allows bystanders to preemptively kill a potential murderer.
Raz’s attorney, Daniel Haklai, expressed his displeasure with the conduct of the investigation and the conduct of the police.
"It is very unfortunate that the Israel Police hastened to issue a statement to the media regarding the end of the investigation of Ze’ev Raz before informing me that the investigation had indeed ended and even before informing Zeev's wife," said Haklai.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on Raz’s Facebook post on Saturday night, prior to departing from Paris.
"In recent weeks, we have witnessed a growing wave of daily incitement, that crosses boundaries. It had seemed that all boundaries have been crossed by threats against elected officials and myself, but it seems that this is not the case because today we have heard and seen an explicit threat to murder the Prime Minister of Israel,” he said.
“I know that there is a debate over what endangers democracy but this is not something that is subject to dispute – this truly endangers democracy.”
“I expect the law enforcement and security officials, who spoke out so clearly and sharply, during the tenure of the previous government, about phenomena that were much less serious, to come out – with the same severity and clarity – against this terrible phenomenon. I expect the law enforcement officials to take immediate action against those who are inciting to murder, and I expect the leaders of the opposition to speak out as vigorously and as strongly as I did,” continued the Prime Minister.
“Ours is a complicated time and we need to do what is expected of us as public leaders. We cannot be silent about this," concluded Netanyahu.