Israeli escaped prisoner said arrested in Morocco synagogue

An Israeli prisoner accused in the murder of three people who had escaped house arrest in the Jewish state last year was captured on Saturday in Morocco by the country’s secret police, Hebrew media reported.

Golan Avitan was arrested in a Casablanca synagogue while being visited by his children who arrived from Israel to meet with him. Avitan was taken to a holding facility in the capital and appointed a lawyer, according to reports.

He escaped Israeli authorities in October of 2018 after managing to remove an electronic handcuff while under house arrest. He had previously turned down a plea deal with prosecutors which would have seen him serve nine years in prison.

Avitan is suspected of involvement in a 2003 criminal bombing in Tel Aviv that claimed the lives of three people and injured several dozen.