Israeli leaders praised the country’s security services for tracking down the gunman who allegedly killed three Israelis on Jan. 1 in Tel Aviv.
The accused gunman, Nashat Melhem, was killed Jan. 8 in a shootout with police near his home in the Umm al-Fahm area of northern Israel.
“On behalf of all citizens of Israel, I would like to thank the Israel Police, ISA and the police special anti-terrorism unit — they did their work professionally, methodically, day and night; they focused on the mission and they achieved it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
President Reuven Rivlin also released a statement praising members of the security detail who “worked night and day.”
Police said Melhem, 31, killed two young men when he shot up a bar in central Tel Aviv and then murdered a taxi driver who transported him from the scene of the crime. Six others were wounded.
Melhem had been the target of a massive manhunt. He was buried Jan. 12 in his home village. His father, Mohammed, who is under house arrest for abetting his son, chose not to attend the funeral. — jta