‘Growing assessment’ Reuven Schmerling murder was nationalistically motivated

There is a growing assessment among investigators that the murder of a 70-year-old Jewish man on Wednesday in the Israeli Arab city of Kafr Qassem was nationalistically motivated, Hebrew media reported on Saturday.

A court imposed a gag order on the details of the ongoing investigation hours after Reuven Schmerling, from the Israeli settlement of Elkana in the West Bank, was found in a storage unit in the city’s industrial area on Wednesday mid-day, just before the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Police and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, opened a joint investigation into the murder, verifying possible motives including a possible work- or money-related dispute. Schmerling owned a coal business in Kafr Qassem and employed residents of the city and had business contacts there.

Two Israeli TV stations reported on Saturday that new developments in the case suggest Schmerling was killed for nationalistic reasons, meaning the father of four may have been killed because he was Jewish and/or Israeli.

His family has maintained that he was the victim of a terror attack since his body was discovered by one of his sons covered in stab wounds. Some reports in the Hebrew media suggested he has been beaten.

Schmerling was laid to rest on Friday in Elkana. Hundreds attended the funeral as friends and family eulogized him as a man of kindness” who always sought to help others.

He was to celebrate his 70th birthday on Thursday as his children and grandchildren gathered in Elkana for the occasion.

At the funeral, family wore shirts they had made for the birthday.

“Everything was ready for your birthday. We prepared a song and a presentation, shirts, but the guest of honor never arrived. We did not have time to say goodbye and tell you so many important things,” said Schmerling’s daughter Idit. “Only two days have passed since you left us, and our lives without you are already so lacking.”

Schmerling’s son Shai, who praised his father for having “believed in every human being” and always seeking to help others, also noted the birthday.

“We were supposed to be celebrating your 70th birthday now, and as we wrote on the t-shirts that we prepared for you, may you stay forever young,” he said. “God, please keep father safe and give strength to mother and the whole family.”

As friends and family remembered Schmerling as a “man of kindness” and a loving grandfather, they also called for action against his killers.

“In the past, Jews could only pray for vengeance. Today, we turn from here to our country, to the state. It is unacceptable that in the center of our country, Jewish blood can be forsaken in this way,” said Jewish Home MK Nissan Slomianski, a friend of Schmerling’s.

“We say to our security forces: Enough. No more. We hope that the property of the murdered will also be destroyed in Kafr Qassem.”

The family has said it has “no doubt” Shcmerling was a victim of terrorism. “For the ailing family, there is no doubt that this despicable murder was committed on nationalistic grounds,” a statement from the family said Thursday.

Elkana’s Rabbi Meir Yehuda Stern said “the abominable murder by evil sinners who have no God in their hearts is another attempt to sever and harm our connection with the Torah and the nation of Israel.”

In a Facebook post on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his condolences to the family, while also saying the killers will be brought to justice.

“I would like to send my condolences to the Schmerling family and the Elkana community over the murder of Reuven Schmerling. We will do everything to bring to justice those who committed this shocking murder. May his memory be a blessing,” Netanyahu wrote.

The family will be begin the traditional period of Jewish mourning, known as shiva, at the conclusion of the Sukkot holiday next Thursday evening.