TEL AVIV, Nov 9: An Israeli minister and his family have moved out of their home on the orders of Israeli security chiefs over fears Palestinian fighters were planning to assassinate him, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

Army Radio identified him as Dan Naveh, a minister without portfolio and a member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s hardline Likud party.

Israeli sources confirmed Naveh and his family had left their home in Shoham, a town in central Israel near the border with the West Bank.

Their departure marked the first time a senior government official has been forced to move in response to information Palestinians planned to attack him, said Channel Two television, which broke the story without naming Naveh.

Last month, Palestinian radicals assassinated far-right Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in retaliation for Israel’s killing their leader in August.—Reuters