Relatives of the Israel Prison Service dog handler found dead in his burned Samaria home on Monday believe he was the victim of terrorism, his sister told the Ynet news outlet on Tuesday morning.
Yochai Avni “preserved his innocence, even though he was in the most harsh place, saw terrorists and worked with a difficult population,” sister Nitzan said of his employment at the high-security Ofer Prison.
Avni, 40, started his career in the Border Police before enlisting in the Prison Service, where he served for many years, she said. “Prison guards look like tough people, but he wasn’t like that,” she continued. “He was a man of peace and wrote on his Facebook: ‘Stop the wars.’ I am sure that, even in the prison, he gave respect to every person regardless of who they are.”
She insisted that her brother “didn’t have a single enemy,” adding, “We believe it was a terrorist attack.”
Avni was found dead in his home in the Samaria town of Givon Hahadasha, northwest of Jerusalem, with stab wounds on his burned body and a knife in his neck.
Israel Security Agency investigators were reportedly called to the scene to probe a possible terrorist connection.
The Israel Police issued a statement emphasizing that “all directions are being investigated,” and a gag order was placed on the publication of the details of the probe and the identity of possible suspects.
In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an urgent directive for all government bodies to prepare prisons for an influx of thousands of terrorists expected to be arrested this year.
Ofer Prison, a detention facility managed by the IPS, is located between Ramallah and Givat Ze’ev in Samaria. It is one of the Jewish state’s three high-security facilities, in addition to the Megiddo and Ktzi’ot prisons.