The Shin Bet intelligence agency on Saturday night named the suspected killer of 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher, z’l as Palestinian Authority citizen Arafat Afariah, a 29-year-old resident of Hebron.
Read: Jewish Teen Brutally Murdered in Jerusalem
Afariah was arrested on Saturday by Israel Police special forces outside a mosque in Al Bireh, near Ramallah.
Read: Security Forces Arrest Hebron Arab Suspected in Teen Ori Ansbacher’s Murder
According to the statement issued by the Shin Bet, on Thursday morning (February 7) Afariah “left his home in Hebron with a knife and made his way to the village of Beit Jala. Arafat walked towards the [Jerusalem] forest, where he noticed Ori, attacked and murdered her.”
The remainder of the investigation remains under a gag order.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the Shin Bet security services and the Israel Police “that within a few hours captured the abominable murderer who murdered Ori Ansbacher. Israel’s long arm reaches anyone who harms us and we will settle accounts with them,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday night.
“In my name and on behalf of the people of Israel, I wish to express my condolences to the Ansbacher family and to strengthen them with their great grief,” the prime minister said.