Ramle man indicted after shooting his lawyer six times at close range over insurance claim

A 24-year-old Ramle man was indicted on Wednesday for allegedly planning and carrying out the murder of his own lawyer over the handling of a NIS 18,500 insurance claim, shooting him six times at close range inside his Rishon Lezion office.

Ahmad al-Rajoub was charged in the Central District Court in Lod with intentional murder under aggravated circumstances, carrying a weapon and ammunition, destroying evidence and obstructing justice. The case is before Judge Maor Even Han, and the next hearing is scheduled for September 16. 

The indictment alleges that Al-Rajoub decided to kill attorney Arbel Feldman after becoming angry over what he believed was the slow handling of a claim arising from damage to a vehicle involved in a traffic accident.

Feldman had represented Al-Rajoub in proceedings against Harel Insurance. The NIS 18,500 claim was filed in the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court in June 2024, while a related dispute over insurance coverage was being heard separately in Rehovot.

Al-Rajoub was reportedly frustrated by length of case

The proceedings were repeatedly delayed while the parties awaited the outcome of the related case, according to the indictment. Al-Rajoub allegedly complained that Feldman had failed to move the claim forward quickly enough and said that he was in serious financial difficulty.

During a recorded telephone conversation on July 20, prosecutors allege, Al-Rajoub spoke to Feldman in a threatening tone, complained that the case had continued for nearly three years and accused the lawyer of having “screwed him.”

The two met at Feldman’s office the following day. On July 28, the civil proceedings ended in a settlement providing that the insurance payment would be made within 30 days.

Al-Rajoub allegedly shot his lawyer six times

Exactly one week later, prosecutors allege, Al-Rajoub arrived at Feldman’s office carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun concealed beneath his clothing.

Al-Rajoub allegedly entered the office shortly before 1 p.m., approached Feldman, drew the gun and fired six times at close range with the intention of killing him. The bullets struck Feldman’s upper body, head and hand.

Feldman collapsed onto the office floor and died there from blood loss, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said just 21 seconds passed between Al-Rajoub’s entrance into the office and his departure.

He then allegedly ran down the building’s stairs, fled to his vehicle and drove toward Ashdod. At an unknown location along the way, prosecutors claim, he disposed of or concealed both the gun and his mobile phone to prevent investigators from using them as evidence.

Turning himself in to the police

About two hours later, Al-Rajoub presented himself at an Ashdod police station and initially told officers that he had killed Feldman for a financial motive, according to the detention request. The same filing says he later exercised his right to remain silent during three formal interrogations.

Prosecutors said their evidence includes security footage showing Al-Rajoub arriving at the building, entering Feldman’s office and running away with an object resembling a firearm. Approximately 100 gunshot-residue particles were found on his hands and hair, according to a forensic opinion cited by the prosecution.

The evidence also includes the recorded July 20 conversation, telephone and message records, documents from the civil proceedings and a firearms examination indicating that one weapon was used in the shooting, prosecutors said. 

The killing was first reported after police received an emergency call from Feldman’s office on Moshe Levy Street. “Urgent, urgent, they shot my office partner,” the caller told police. Officers found Feldman with multiple gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors say Al-Rajoub poses threat and risk of obstruction to justice 

Feldman, a Rishon Lezion resident and father of three, had practiced law for more than 20 years and specialized in tort and traffic-accident claims. Friends and colleagues remembered him as quiet, courteous and devoted to his family. Lawyers across Israel observed two minutes of silence after his killing.

Prosecutors have asked the court to keep Al-Rajoub detained until the conclusion of the proceedings, arguing that the circumstances of the alleged attack demonstrate extreme danger and that his purported efforts to conceal the gun and telephone create a risk of obstruction.

“An attack on a lawyer acting within the law as his client’s representative crosses a red line,” prosecutors wrote, adding that lawyers must be able to perform their work without fear that they will be killed.