Modiin man arrested in connection to slaying of 23-year-old step-son

A man was shot to death outside his home in the central city of Modiin Friday, in a killing police suspect was linked to a domestic dispute.

The step-father of the man was arrested on suspicion of killing the 23-year-old, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Magen David Adom medics who found him with multiple gunshot and stab wounds outside the family’s home.

Neither the victim’s nor the suspect’s identities were immediately released to the press. Media reports said the victim had special needs and had been adopted by the family. He normally lived at a special facility, but had returned home for the weekend when the fight broke out, the Ynet news site reported.

There was no word regarding the motive for the killing.

Police said they made the arrest after opening an investigation and collecting forensic evidence at the scene.

Slayings in the sleepy bedroom community of Modiin, a planned city of some 80,000, are relatively rare. Nationwide, Israel’s murder rate has spiked drastically over the last several months, with nearly all of the killings taking place in the Arab community.

A rash of killings claimed six Arab victims over the last two days, bringing the death toll in Arab communities to 123 so far this year, according to a tally from the Abraham Initiatives NGO. That number makes 2023 already the second deadliest year for the community since tracking began, behind the 126 slayings in all of 2021.

The uptick in crime has coincided with the establishment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new hardline government.

בעקבות רצח עוזרו של ראש המועצה: תושבי פוריידיס מפגינים במחאה על האלימות בחברה הערבית, שיירת רה"מ נקלעה למקום ומאבטחיו נאלצו לרדת מהרכבים כדי לפלס את הדרך

לידיעה המלאה – https://t.co/VVd2dIPHe2@ali_mograbi pic.twitter.com/0cjy6lUkoX

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) July 14, 2023

Over 100 members of the community held a protest at the Fureidis junction in northern Israel on Friday, blasting the government and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in particular for failing to address the issue. A day earlier, Alah Mari, an aide to Fureidis mayor Ayman Mari, was shot dead.

The demonstrators blocked the junction until, at one point, Netanyahu’s motorcade arrived. His security detail flew out of their cars with guns aimed at the protesters, yelling at them to clear the street so the premier could pass.

After a slight delay, the protesters moved aside and the motorcade was able to proceed to Netanyahu’s home in nearby Caesarea.

“If Netanyahu really cared, he would’ve gotten out of his car and spoken with the people to hear their pain,” one of the protesters told the Ynet news site.