Yair Golan, chair of the left-wing The Democrats party, has requested government security protection following what he described as threats against his life, the Walla news site reported Wednesday, as concern continues to grow about political violence ahead of the October 27 election.

Golan wrote recently to Shin Bet chief David Zini and Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg to request a security detail, the outlet reported, citing an influx of social media posts that wished him grievous bodily harm or death.

One such post cited by Golan called for him to take “a bullet to the head,” while another called to “gouge out” his eyes, and claimed that he and his family deserved to be hanged because he “caused a second Holocaust to the Jewish people.”

Walla cited a party spokesperson as saying that “the police raised the threat assessment level for the chairman of the Democrats,” and said the party was demanding he receive a security detail “against the backdrop of threats to his life.”

The report came two days after Channel 12 alleged that the Shin Bet had allowed election frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot’s private guards to carry weapons. The decision was an apparent compromise after the security agency turned down a request to provide an official security detail for Eisenkot, who chairs the opposition Yashar party. Zini’s initial decision to deny security to Eisenkot had sparked sharp criticism from opposition politicians.

The requests for security come as the political landscape continues to shift two months ahead of the vote. All eyes have turned to Ofer Winter, a hawkish former general who launched a new right-wing party on Tuesday. Winter’s entry has troubled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has reportedly lamented his Likud party’s poor showing in private conversations and spoken about losing the vote.

The premier has in recent days publicly urged Winter’s faction to merge with existing parties, for fear that fragmentation on the right could cause one or more parties to fall short of entering the Knesset, sealing a Likud loss.

A poll by Channel 13 on Wednesday predicted just that scenario, showing Winter’s new People of Israel party winning too few votes to enter the Knesset,........

© The Times of Israel