Man killed, conversion judge injured in Haifa shootings

An Israeli man was killed and a rabbinic judge was injured in separate shootings in Haifa on Tuesday morning.

Yehiel Iluz, 48, a senior judge on a Haifa rabbinic court for conversion, was moderately wounded in a shooting on the city’s Haatzma’ut Road.

Some 30 minutes later, Guy Kafri, 47, a van driver from Haifa’s Nesher neighborhood, was shot and killed on nearby Hagiborim Street.

Earlier reports identified Kafri as a rabbi linked to a rabbinical court and hinted at a connection between the two attacks. A spokesperson for the rabbinic court told religious news site Kikar Hashabat earlier on Tuesday that it appears to be a case of mistaken identity and that the driver and the judge were victims of an underworld battle.

Shachar Dror, Kafri’s son-in-law, said his father-in-law had no criminal record or personal enemies.

“He was a good man who helped everyone,” Dror told Channel 2. “We don’t understand what happened and hope the police get to the truth and we find out who stands behind Guy’s murder. He had no enemies.”

A paramedic said Iluz suffered a gunshot wound to his upper body.

Israeli media reported that eyewitnesses to the second attack said the shooter was a woman.

There have been no arrests in the shootings, and police have not said if they have any suspects.

Iluz, a father of seven, lives in Galilee town of Migdal Ha’emek, Channel 10 reported. He works one day a week in Haifa.