A 39-year old Israeli father of four, Rabbi Shai Ohayon, was killed in an apparent terror stabbing in Petah Tikva, this week.
The attack was condemned by Middle East Minister James Cleverly, who expressed his condolences: “There is no excuse for such violence. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time”.
Rabbi Ohayon sustained multiple stab wounds in the attack on Wednesday afternoon. A Palestinian suspect was arrested near the scene with a bloodstained knife, police said.
Also overnight Wednesday-Thursday, IDF troops raided the home of the suspected killer in the West Bank village of Rujeib, near Nablus, Ynet News reported.
The suspect in the attack — identified by Israeli authorities as Khalil Abd al-Khaliq Dweikat, 46, from the northern West Bank — was in Israel with a legal work permit, according to Israel’s Shin Bet security service.
Dweikat, a father of six from the Nablus area, had no history of terrorist activities, the Shin Bet said. The security service said it was looking into the possibility that he had a history of mental illness, but that it was “too soon to tell” if that could explain the attack.
It is highly unusual for Palestinians with legal work permits to carry out attacks in Israel, since they undergo background checks and regular screenings by Israeli security services.
