Task force established to investigate teen's slaying

By YAAKOV KATZ
Tel Aviv Police continued their investigation Wednesday into the murder of 17-year-old Shlomo Noi of Modi'in, who was attacked by an unknown group of assailants in Bnei Brak last Thursday. Noi was severely beaten on Thursday night by a group of bat-wielding men on Rehov Jabotinsky in Bnei Brak. He was evacuated to Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, suffering from internal bleeding, and died on Tuesday. Police established a special task force to investigate the murder, which they said appeared to have been premeditated based on witness accounts that the men attacked without provocation. Police said it appeared the assailants ambushed Noi, who they apparently knew would be walking down that street late that night. Police said that Noi did not have a criminal record. Meanwhile Wednesday, a 20-year-old Ponevezh Yeshiva student was severely beaten and stabbed by a number of assailants. Police said the youth, from Jerusalem, was attacked inside the yeshiva building and evacuated to Sheba Hospital in moderate condition. The stabbing, police said, appeared to be part of an internal turf war at the prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva, which has been torn apart recently by rivaling rabbis fighting for control of the institution. However, Ponevezh yeshiva students denied police claims that the incident was related to the ongoing feud between rabbinic camps vying for control of the yeshiva. Matthew Wagner contributed to this report.