Israeli Police: Jaffa Christian leader killed over property dispute

Jan 31, 2012, 13:07 GMT

Tel Aviv - A senior figure in the Christian community of Jaffa, a Tel Aviv neighbourhood, was murdered earlier this month following a prolonged dispute over property, Israeli police announced Tuesday, as a gag order on the investigation was lifted.

Gabriel Cadis, chairman of the Jaffa Orthodox Church Association, was stabbed to death on January 6, at the end of a procession held by the Orthodox Christian community along a Jaffa street to mark the Orthodox Christmas.

Three Jaffa residents were remanded in custody on Monday, a police statement said. Two of them, aged 24 and 25, are suspected of carrying out the murder, while the third, aged 55, is suspected of planning it.

Two other suspects were given five days of house arrest.

According to the police, the motive for the murder was a dispute over a seaside property worth around 2.7 million dollars. Cadis said the property belonged to the Church Association; the alleged planner of the murder said it belonged to his family.

Cadis had been elected chairman of the Church Association three weeks before his murder.

Jaffa has a large Arab Christian community, many of whom adhere to the Orthodox faith.