The Israeli internal security agency "Shabak" has warned an Israeli man living in America against disclosing details about the location of Yair Netanyahu, fearing that the son of the Israeli Prime Minister may be harmed, according to a report published by Haaretz. The Israeli man is named Ofir Gutelzon, a U.S. citizen residing in California and one of the leaders of the protest movement against Benjamin Netanyahu outside Israel. In the past, Yair Netanyahu had filed a request for a protection order against Gutelzon in Israel but later withdrew the request.
Last week, Gutelzon received phone calls from an unknown number, followed by a message via WhatsApp from someone identifying himself as "Gavri," stating he was a coordinator in the anti-espionage and sabotage prevention department within the Jewish sector of Shabak, colloquially known as the Jewish section. Gavri requested to speak with Gutelzon, who replied that he was busy and does not answer calls from unknown numbers, asking for the reason for the call. When Gutelzon noted that Gavri's name did not appear in his WhatsApp contact information, the Shabak official replied, "I just want to talk to you for five minutes."
After Gutelzon did not respond to the text message, "Gavri" sent him a voice message: "Come on, return my call, I really need you for five minutes just to relay a small message, no more. It’s 7:30 PM here [in Israel], and business hours are almost over. I would be happy if you could talk to me again from the office; I know it’s still early over there." (It was 10:15 AM in California).
After listening to the voice message, Gutelzon agreed to the phone call. He stated that when he expressed skepticism about whether he was indeed talking to someone from Shabak, Gavri responded, "We know who your family is," mentioning names and Israeli ID numbers of some of Gutelzon's relatives.
During their conversation, Gutelzon said that Gavri indicated that "Shabak" is responsible for protecting the Prime Minister and his family and urged him to be "very careful in publishing any details about them," as "this is a sensitive period." Since the start of the war in Gaza, Shabak has bolstered its preparations for potential attacks on Israelis abroad.
Over the past year, Gutelzon has led protests on the West Coast of the United States against the judicial reforms proposed by the Israeli government through the organization he founded, UnXeptable. He also organized demonstrations outside a meeting between the Prime Minister and Elon Musk in September. In an interview with Haaretz, he affirmed that he had never disclosed details about the location of Yair Netanyahu or other family members. Gutelzon stated, "For a committed Israeli-American law-abiding citizen living in the United States to receive a warning call from Shabak is a disturbing attempt to intimidate and infringe on freedom of expression and the right to protest, serving as a wake-up call for all of us."
