
The security detail surrounding Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionists) has been substantially increased recently after he received death threats, Ynet reported on Wednesday.
The number of bodyguards surrounding Smotrich now resembles that surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Anywhere he goes, Smotrich is accompanied by five bodyguards - an unprecedented number for a minister.
Stringent security protocols have been put in place around Smotrich's movements, his home, and his office. The minister is protected by the Magen Unit, which protects the Prime Minister, and not by the ISA's Unit for the Protection of Individuals. Sources with knowledge of the issue noted that Smotrich is among the five heaviest-guarded individuals in Israel.
In recent days, Palestinian Arabs have published calls to assassinate the Finance Minister, a resident of the Samaria town of Kedumim, after he said that "Shechem and Jenin should look like Jabaliya," following the shooting attack in the village of Funduq.
Hamas responded to Smotrich's statements and published a proclamation stating: "The demand of the Smotrich the terrorist to deal with Jenin and Shechem like in Jabaliya is a call to expand the genocidal war. Such calls demand urgent intervention by the UN and its institutions to bring the criminals to justice."