The most violent pages on social networking sites in Israel belong to politicians. The Berl Katzneslon Foundation published data about violence on the internet in a special report prepared ahead of Tisha B’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. TV Channel 2 pointed to the report as part of a discussion about “unjustified gratuitous hatred,” which Jewish tradition cites as the cause of the Second Temple’s destruction.

The study tracked down all expressions of hatred appearing in Hebrew on Israeli social networks between June 2015 and May 2016. The total number of such comments was a staggering 4,241,653. These included curses and inflammatory and offensive remarks of varying degrees of severity, including 175,000 calls for physical violence. The study also found that the most frequent terms in this category were “kill” (27,000 times) and “eliminate” (12,000 times).

According to the report, this was a record year for expressions of violence on Israeli social media. The rise in violence can be attributed to a combination of loose fingers on the keyboard and the intifada of individuals, which made the public and political spheres all the more volatile.

Another interesting fact raised by the report is that expressions of violence are most frequently found on pages belonging to Israeli politicians. Of the 10 most violent Hebrew-language Facebook pages in Israel, six belong to politicians — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Meretz Chair Zehava Gal-On, Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Camp), Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud), HaBayit HaYehudi Chair Naftali Bennett and Knesset member Haneen Zoabi (Joint List of predominantly Arab parties).