Associates of slain Netanya kabbalist Rabbi Amos Guata tell journalist Haim Cohen the killer sought to 'release the rabbi from his suffering,' and was not merely 'a crazy person.' The account parallels a 2023 murder of Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira, where the perpetrator claimed messianic motives.
Journalist Haim Cohen reported Wednesday afternoon that conversations with students of the late Rabbi Amos Guata suggest the murder was ideologically motivated, not a random criminal act. According to Cohen, the killer expressed a desire to 'release the rabbi from his suffering,' echoing the 2023 murder of Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira ('the Baba Elazar'), where the assailant said he acted 'to bring redemption.' Cohen emphasized that the perpetrator does not appear to be a generic 'crazy person,' but someone acting on a delusional-logic framework. Guata, a prominent Netanya kabbalist, was stabbed to death early Wednesday morning at the entrance to his synagogue. Police initially said they were investigating a criminal motive. The Zioneer had previously reported on the attack and the police line. These new comments, if corroborated, would shift the investigation's direction toward an ideological–theological motive.
3 developments
- StrongStudents mourn slain Netanya kabbalist Rabbi Amos Guetta at his hospital bedside
- StrongShas party announces sudden passing of prominent Netanya rabbi Amos Guata
- DevelopingNetanya city council member, student of slain Rabbi Guetta, eulogizes him as a spiritual father
- DevelopingPolice arrest suspect in stabbing murder of Rabbi Amos Guetta at Netanya yeshiva
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