A top officer of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) received death threat letters from far-right wing activists following his fight against settlement construction in the West Bank, local media reported on Thursday.

The far-right activists accused IDF Central Command Major General Gadi Shamni of being "infected with anti-Semitism and hatred of real Jews," and threatened to kill both the general and his children, according to Israel Army Radio.

The anonymous writers told the officer that "you don't act against the Palestinians, it proved that you have made a deal with the Nazi devil, which hates the Jewish nation."

Similar threats were sent by right-wing extremists during Israeli settlers disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and the evacuation of the Jewish settlement of Amona in 2006.

Violence between Jewish settlers and the Israel security forces has been increasing recently as Israel Defense Ministry decided to remove the small illegal settler outpost camp of Maoz Ester in the occupied West Bank last month.

On Wednesday evening, right-wing settlers began constructing two new outposts just hours after Israeli security forces dismantled two structures in the Maoz Ester outpost.

Also on Wednesday, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced that his religious party of Shas will not accept the settlements being "dried out."

"We did not agree to join a government headed by Tzipi Livni, who refused to pledge to protect the unity of Jerusalem and to continue building, and therefore we intend to work in this government to build as many settlements as possible to meet the natural growth," the interior minister was quoted by local daily Ha'aretz as saying.

His remarks came along with US President Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East, during which he would reach out to the Muslim world.

Obama is scheduled to deliver a long-promised speech in Cairo on Thursday. It is reported that he will call on Israel and the Arab states to change their approach to the Middle East peace process. A US source says the president will encourage the Arab world to change its attitude toward Israel and embark on "normalization."

Obama, meanwhile, will stress that Israel needs to change its attitude toward the Palestinians and cease construction in the West Bank settlements to enable a two-state solution.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2009)