An Israeli district court judge has been shot dead in a suburb of the city of Tel Aviv. The man, named as Adi Azar, was shot three times at close range in his car by a man on a motorcycle near his home in Ramat Hasharon, witnesses said. The motive for the killing was not clear, but Israel's Justice Minister Josef Lapid denied reports that it was an act of terrorism. "This is the first murder of a judge in Israel's history," he said. "This must give us food for thought about where Israel's society is headed." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed "deep shock and pain" at the judge's death. Israeli radio said the attack bore the hallmarks of a professional contract killing. But the 49-year-old judge was not involved in trying criminal cases.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is associated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, said they had carried out the shooting. However, the organisation has previously made false claims about attacks which later turned out to be criminal.
| No, they were still criminal, just mis-attributed. |
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