Israeli professor launches hunger strike after arrest for calling Netanyahu a traitor

An Israeli university professor has declared a hunger strike in protest at her arrest for calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “traitor”, according to Israeli media.

The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday that Yolanda Yavor, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University and a resident of Or Akiva in northern Israel, was detained on Friday on suspicion of “incitement to violence” over posts she published on Facebook targeting Netanyahu and other officials.

Yavor is currently being held at the Kishon detention facility in northern Israel. Her lawyer, who was not named, told the newspaper that the investigation is “politically motivated”, adding that she “poses no danger” and that her continued detention “endangers her life”.

According to the report, Yavor was arrested after urging a “rebellion” against Netanyahu, writing: “The only option is to fight the traitor, the mouthpieces and the damned collaborators with all our might and by all means – or we cease to exist.”

The Prime Minister’s Office has not commented on the arrest. Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed in recent years that he and his family are the targets of incitement.

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