From Rabin to Today, Israelis Ask How Close the Next Bullet Is
Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah ricocheted into Israel’s already raw debate over incitement and weapons, and Gabriel Colodro tracks how a cross-current of journalists, scholars, and activists fear the country could face its own “American-style” political killing. Ben Caspit, a leading columnist, warns, “The hatred and the weapons are here,” recalling the 1995 murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a cautionary line in national memory. Arab Israeli advocate Yosef Haddad describes daily death threats and canceled appearances, saying the online glorification of violence narrows the distance between “words and bullets.” Bar-Ilan University’s Professor Eytan Gilboa argues polarization and the easy availability of guns have pushed the risk higher, while veteran broadcaster Yoni Ben-Menahem widens the lens, saying both left and right now generate incendiary rhetoric that can spill into the streets.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
The piece maps a grim feedback loop: a surge in privately held firearms since Oct. 7, hard-edged media ecosystems, and political talk that tags rivals as “traitors.” Caspit argues pro-government outlets normalize conspiracy and menace; Gilboa says leaders bear responsibility when they blur the line between free speech and incitement; Ben-Menahem contends that ideology-driven murder is “terrorism of thought.” Haddad points to social media’s role in amplifying hate and, citing a symbolic gesture, notes President Donald Trump’s decision to lower the American flag after Kirk’s killing as the kind of civic signal Israel’s leaders rarely send.
This is a warning shot, not a eulogy: interviewees urge legal, not vigilante, responses and a reset in public tone before the next protest season. For the full interviews, context, and on-the-ground texture, read Gabriel Colodro’s report at The Media Line.
