A renowned kabbalist, Rabbi Amos Guetta, was murdered Wednesday morning after an unknown assailant entered his beit midrash in Netanya and stabbed him. Emergency crews rushed the rabbi to the hospital in critical condition, where doctors were unable to save him.
Police launched a large-scale manhunt for the suspect, who fled the scene, and located him roughly two hours later. He was taken into custody for questioning. Police said in a statement that officers from the Sharon district had opened an investigation into a violent incident at a yeshiva in Netanya, in which a man in his seventies, a resident of the city, was stabbed. Investigators and forensic teams were working the scene to collect evidence.
The initial call came in to Magen David Adom's 101 hotline at 5:45 a.m., reporting a man injured on Shimon Bar Yochai Street in Netanya. MDA paramedics who treated the rabbi described finding him unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, with severe penetrating wounds. They performed extended resuscitation efforts at the scene before evacuating him to Laniado Hospital in critical condition, but doctors there pronounced him dead.
Volunteers from ZAKA's Netanya unit assisted police forensic teams in gathering evidence from the scene.
Netanya Mayor Avi Salama mourned Rabbi Guetta's death, calling him a monumental Torah scholar and a pillar of Torah and kindness in the city. The mayor said the rabbi had, for many years, illuminated the path of tens of thousands of residents, drawn hearts closer to Torah, strengthened souls, and served as a source of counsel, blessing and salvation for families in Israel and around the world.
Police have not released the identity of the suspect. According to initial police assessments cited in Hebrew media, the suspect may be dealing with a mental health crisis, though this has not been formally confirmed.
