Far-right Israeli rapper ‘The Shadow’ joins Netanyahu’s Likud

An Israeli rapper who advocates the castration of dead Palestinian attackers and the harvesting of their organs for Jews has signed up to Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Yoav Eliasi, 38, known as ‘The Shadow,’ was welcomed into the party by Likud Knesset Member Oren Hazan, who described Eliasi as “like a brother”.

The rapper, a former bankrupt, has 220,000 Facebook followers and is known for his controversial statements about Palestinians and left-wingers.

He organised an aggressive right-wing mob to intimidate Tel Aviv demonstrators who opposed Israeli action in Gaza in 2014. Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz described him as “the dangerous product of incessant incitement by extreme right-wing elements”.

Eliasi’s party membership was supported by Hazan, a former member of the Knesset (Parliament) Ethics Committee. He was removed from that committee in December after a Channel 2 documentary said he hired prostitutes and used hard drugs while managing a Bulgarian casino.