Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira, a well known religious figure, was stabbed to death
in a Beersheba yeshiva shortly after midnight on Friday morning.
Stunned
followers told police Abuchatzeira was stabbed in the upper body by a man he had
received as a visitor.
Police have arrested a suspect they said was
delivered to officers by a crowd. The suspect was taken for
questioning.
The motive for the homicide has not been established at this
stage.
Rabbi Abuchatzeira was rushed to the Soroka Medical Center in
Beersheba in critical condition. Paramedics attempted to resuscitate him, but he
died en route to the hospital.
Southern police district head Cmdr. Yossi
Preinti arrived at the yeshiva and received updated on details of the incident
by police officers from the Negev police sub-district.
Police have tasked the Negev sub-district's central unit with leading the murder investigation.
The murder suspect is expected to appear before the Beersheva Magistrate's Court on Friday morning for a remand hearing.
Meanwhile, hundreds of officers were deployed in Jerusalem on Friday to secure the
large number of expected mourners who will arrive for Rabbi Abuchatzeira's funeral.