Brazil nabs Israeli fugitive convicted of killing Palestinian
Ending decade-long manhunt, Sao Paulo police arrest Yehoshua Elitzur, who fled Israel after found guilty of killing Sael al-Shatiya in 2004
After a decade-long manhunt, Brazilian police and Interpol on Thursday arrested an Israeli man convicted of killing a Palestinian taxi driver in 2004.
The convict was identified in a report Thursday by the Estado news agency as Y.E. — initials that match those of Yehoshua Elitzur, 44, who in 2005 disappeared from his home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, shortly before an Israeli district court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for manslaughter.
The Israeli man was taken into custody in Sao Paulo, local media reported, where he will face an extradition hearing and be held until Israel officially requests that Brazil hand him over.
In 2004, Elitzur, a resident of the northern West Bank settlement of Itamar, shot and killed Sael Jabara al-Shatiya from the Palestinian village of Salem on the side of Road 557 near the Elon Moreh settlement.
According to the indictment, Elitzur decided to stop al-Shatiya, who was driving towards him in a van. Armed with an M-16, Elitzur stood in the middle of the road and demanded al-Shatiya halt and get out of the car.
Poor road conditions prevented al-Shatiya from pulling over where Elitzur demanded, and he continued driving and began to pull over further down the road on the shoulder when Elitzur shot and killed him.
Elitzur claimed that he acted in self-defense, and that al-Shatiya was trying to run him off the road. Witnesses at the scene denied this claim.
He was initially accused of murder, but was convicted of manslaughter after prosecutors couldn’t prove he intended to kill al-Shatiya. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005, but fled the country before his plea hearing.
Elitzur, who was confined to house arrest during the trial and sentencing, escaped to Germany and then to Brazil, where he was hiding for over a decade.
Brazilian media reported that Elitzur entered the country using false identification.
Israeli intelligence and police representatives abroad assisted Interpol in their manhunt for Elitzur after putting out an international arrest warrant.