Police chief warns of potential for political assassination: ‘Lower the flames’

Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai warned Saturday that the current political climate could lead to deadly violence, as he pleaded with Israelis to “lower the flames.”

“I came here [to the studio] for a reason. I’ve tried to refrain from these kinds of interviews. But the situation we’re in [in Israel] keeps me awake at night. We’re on a steep slope, of inflammatory argument, of people writing things without considering the impact they can have on the other side,” Shabtai told Channel 12 news.

“This is an opportunity to tell everyone to breathe, calm down, to discuss, and not to become violent in words or deeds… The State of Israel has already seen harm done to public figures,” he said.