Hagai Felician Image by Haaretz

The prime suspect in the gay center shooting in Tel Aviv incriminated himself, Israel Police announced on Sunday.

Police say Hagai Felician, the main suspect in the 2009 attack at Tel Aviv’s Barnoar LGBT center, has tied himself to the shooting that killed Liz Trubeshi, 16, and youth counselor Nir Katz, 27.

During the past few days Felician shared a cell with a police informant who was able to elicit a confession from Felician that he took an active and significant role in the crime.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Earlier on Sunday the suspect told the police he knew his cellmate was a police informant, but he wanted to brag. “You have everything on me,” Felician told the police, “you solved the case, you can pat yourselves on the back.”

Felician was remanded for another eight days.

A second suspect in the attack, Tarlan Hankishayev, was released on Sunday. Police suspect that Hankishayev gave Felician the gun used in the attack, however agreed he would be released after Tel Aviv Magistrate Court Judge Ido Druyan determined that the prosecution failed to prove he was directly involved in the shooting.

Read more at Haaretz.com.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount