People gather outside a Pizza Hut branch in Petah Tikva where employee Yamenu Binyamin Zelka, was stabbed and killed on Independence Day, April 24, 2026 (Roy Alima/Flash90)
The central suspect has been arrested in the killing of 21-year old pizzeria worker Yemanu Binyamin Zelka in Petah Tikva on Independence Day after he asked a group of teens not to use party spray in the restaurant, Hebrew media reports.
According to the reports, the suspect is 15 years old.
Some 10 youths were involved in the assault, though police believe one of them was primarily responsible for the lethal stabbing.
Seven teenagers have been arrested in connection with the killing, reports say.
According to reports, a number of the teens were known to police and one came from a criminal family.
The Ynet news site says the teens had “behaved like senior criminals,” turning off their cellphones in the wake of the killing, and not returning to their homes.
Zelka was on shift at a Pizza Hut restaurant in the Kfar Ganim neighborhood at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday when he approached a group of teenagers who were acting disruptively and using the party spray popular with children and teens on the holiday.
After Zelka politely asked them to stop, the teens waited outside for him to finish his shift, and then attacked him when he left the building.
Yamenu Binyamin Zelka, who was stabbed and killed at his Pizza Hut job in the early hours of Independence Day. (Social media, undated; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
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