Man Charged with Murdering Boy, Attempting to Kill Cousin in Beit Shemesh

The State Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against Liel Ifargan, a 26-year-old resident of Beit Shemesh, for the aggravated murder of Hillel Mordechai Dadon and the attempted murder of his cousin. According to the indictment, Ifargan emerged from a nearby housing unit armed with a knife and attacked the two boys while they were playing in a backyard pool.

The indictment details that last month, in the afternoon, the two children were playing in an inflatable pool. Ifargan then ran out of his adjacent housing unit with a knife, entered the yard, approached the pool, and stabbed Hillel in the chest and his cousin in the neck, intending to kill them. He then allegedly fled back to his unit and cleaned the knife.

Hillel sustained a severe chest wound that proved fatal. His cousin suffered a neck injury, underwent surgery, and was hospitalized for three days. Ifargan is charged with intentional murder under aggravated circumstances, attempted murder, and causing severe injury under aggravated circumstances.

The prosecution is requesting that Ifargan be held in custody until the legal proceedings are concluded. The Prosecutor's Office expressed condolences to Hillel's family and wished for the full recovery of his cousin, stating, "It is difficult to grasp the gap between the innocent play of two children in a pool and the defendant's decision to arm himself with a knife and take their lives." They added that the indictment reflects the exceptional severity of the alleged acts and their irreversible, tragic outcome.