Police Arrest Suspect After Rabbi Stabbed and Two Men Shot Dead in Separate Incidents

Rabbi Amos Guetta was stabbed to death inside a yeshiva on Shimon Bar Yochai Street in Netanya on July 1, 2026, following morning prayers, @Jerusalem_Post reported. Israel Police arrested a Netanya resident in his 20s later that day and took him in for questioning.

The suspect, who is known to police and appears mentally unstable, was part of the rabbi’s circle and had previously met him during a rehabilitation process, according to preliminary police information.

He stabbed the rabbi four times after an argument and fled the scene. Medical teams from Magen David Adom arrived at 5:45 a.m. and found Guetta unconscious with severe penetrative wounds; doctors at Laniado Hospital pronounced him dead.

Two additional fatal shootings occurred earlier the same morning. A 24-year-old man identified as Ali Sawaed was found with penetrative wounds in Shfaram and pronounced dead. Less than an hour later, a 25-year-old man was shot dead inside a vehicle in Yagur.

Police described all three incidents as criminal in nature. The arrest followed a special meeting convened by Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy on the prior Monday with senior command staff to address organized crime and violence in Arab society.

That meeting came after five people were murdered in less than 12 hours across Taiba, Kalansuwa, Jaffa, and Holon in incidents linked to disputes between criminal organizations and families.

The Shas Party described the death as “bitter news” and identified Guetta as the rabbi of Libyan Jewry and head of the Rabbi Yitzhak Chai Taib yeshiva in Netanya. ” Guetta had returned to religious observance decades earlier after studying medicine and subsequently devoted himself to Torah study and counseling others, including members of the Libyan Jewish community.