Martin Plaut posted: " Police are looking into the possibility that the victim was an opponent of the Eritrean government and the killer a supporter of the regime Source: Ha'aretz The funeral of the murdered Eritrean asylum seeker in Tel Aviv on Monday. Sep 27, " Martin Plaut

Police are looking into the possibility that the victim was an opponent of the Eritrean government and the killer a supporter of the regime

Source: Ha'aretz

The funeral of the murdered Eritrean asylum seeker in Tel Aviv on Monday.

Sep 27, 2023 1:46 am IDT

An Eritrean asylum seeker was stabbed to death in south Tel Aviv Monday night, and police are looking into the possibility that the victim was an opponent of the Eritrean government and the killer a supporter.

Under this hypothesis, the killing happened during a fight between the two. No suspects have yet been arrested.

Members of the Eritrean community in Israel said the victim was a father of two who wasn’t involved in crime and had been on his way home from work. His funeral was held at a Tel Aviv church on Tuesday.

Juji, one of the leaders of the Eritrean community, said after the funeral that the community demands a thorough police investigation. He added that ever since a massive brawl erupted between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government in Tel Aviv earlier this month, the community has been living in fear.

“There’s enormous anger among our public, and we’re requesting help from the government and protection from regime supporters,” he said. “We feel afraid and insecure.”

Community members said there have been several incidents involving violence between regime supporters and opponents in Tel Aviv since the mass brawl, and people on both sides said they’re afraid to venture into certain parts of the city lest they be attacked. There have also been many violent incidents between the sides in the past, including a brawl in 2020 that ended with three regime opponents stabbing a regime supporter to death.

Almost 200 people were wounded in the mass brawl, in which the sides clashed not only with each other but with the police. Those clashes began when regime opponents vandalized a hall in Tel Aviv where the Eritrean Embassy had been planning to hold an event.

Dozens of Eritreans were arrested and then placed in administrative detention, meaning detention without trial – some without having been brought for a bail hearing first, and many without having legal representation in court. However, most were later released due to a lack of evidence against them.

Israel has granted collective protection to the 18,000 Eritreans living here, recognizing that even though it maintains diplomatic relations with Eritrea, the asylum seekers can’t be sent home due to their country’s dictatorial government. President Isaias Afwerki has ruled Eritrea since it acquired independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

Human rights organizations say that only a small percentage of these asylum seekers are regime supporters.