" I Decided To Murder An Arab"

Tel Aviv Man Confesses To Murdering Arab Taxi Driver

By Roni Singer-Heruti,
Haaretz Correspondent
Last update - 23:02 14/05/2007
Haaretz

A recent immigrant from France residing in Tel Aviv confessed Monday to the murder of a 35-year-old Arab taxi driver, whose body was found in the city earlier in the day.

The body of the East Jerusalem man was discovered in an apartment on Yona Hanavi Street on Monday afternoon. His throat had been cut, and his body bore the signs of a severe attack.

A preliminary police investigation revealed that the dead man had been invited to the apartment by the 25-year-old Israeli, who also holds French citizenship.

Police were first alerted to the murder when officers from the traffic department noticed two men loitering in the center of Allenby Street in Tel Aviv, at approximately 4 P.M. Monday.

When the two, the suspect and his 21-year-old brother, were detained for routine questioning, the 25-year-old confessed to having killed the cab driver in his apartment, and led police to the scene of the crime.

The motive behind the murder seems to be nationalistic, as the suspect said that he had killed the taxi driver over his Arab nationality.

Neighbors said that the suspect had recently become religious and would regularly attend a local synagogue.

Following the suspect's confession, police asked him to lead them to the apartment. "When he opened the door we found the body of a man. I immediately turned around and handcuffed him," said one of the arresting policemen.

...The initial investigation revealed that victim's throat had been slit, and that he was a taxi driver. His cab was found parked outside the building on Yona Hanavi St.

...It became clear from the beginning of the investigation that murderer and victim had no prior relationship.

The victim turned out to be an Arab from East Jerusalem, and the suspect is a young Jewish man who recently became religious.

For this reason we suspected that there was a nationalist motive behind the murder," said the head of investigations at Yarkon District Police.

The suspect and his brother were then taken to a police station for questioning, and it became evident to investigators that the murder was premeditated.

"I decided to murder an Arab," the suspect told police.

"We understand that [the suspect] arrived in Jerusalem with the objective of killing an Arab. We don't know if he made his plans two hours or two weeks before the murder, but there is definitely evidence that there was planning and thought behind it," said Commander of Yarkon District Police Brig. Gen. Hagai Dotan.

"When they arrived at the apartment in Tel Aviv, the suspect shrewdly persuaded the victim to go up the apartment," an investigating officer said. Once in the apartment, the suspect attacked the victim with a knife and stabbed him to death. It seems that the had been prepared ahead of time. The suspect rented the apartment on Yona Hanavi St. two months ago. He had been living there with his wife, who seems to have left at some point.

MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra`am-Ta`al) said in response to the murder that "an atmosphere of incitement, hatred of Arabs, and the escalating racism in the country are fertile soil for this crime," and added that " the court will probably find mitigating circumstances for the murderers."