Murder of Shelly Dadon

Shelly Dadon was a 20-year-old woman from the town of Afula, Israel. On 1 May 2014, she was on her way to a job interview when she was murdered. Her body was found the following day, 2 May 2014, by police in Ramat Gavriel, an industrial area of Migdal HaEmek. According to her family, she had been dropped off by her father at a junction in Afula Illit where she was meant to catch a bus to her interview; instead, she flagged down a taxi.

A gag order was placed on the investigation, limiting public information. Police arrested a 36-year-old taxi driver, Hussein Khalifa, on 16 June 2014. He confessed to driving Dadon to the industrial park and stabbing her to death. Police also arrested Mohammad I'saf, manager of the cab stand where Dadon got into the taxi, and Hamid Khalifa, the brother of Hussein Khalifa; both were later released. Hussein Khalifa retracted his confession but remained in custody, and the matter was handled as a security investigation.

Based on the investigation, Shin Bet determined that Khalifa had thrown Dadon's cellphone out of the car window while driving away and later discarded her wallet near the Bedouin village of Beit Zarzir. He also allegedly attempted to wash blood from his taxi to cover up the crime. Shortly after the murder, several Arab youths found and used Dadon's credit card, leading to their arrest. Israeli security services initially considered a criminal motive due to the credit card use, but later stated the murder was probably committed for nationalistic reasons, characterizing it as an act of terrorism following further investigation.

On 9 July 2014, Husein Ben Yusef Khalifa, 34, of the Galilee town of Ibillin, was indicted for the murder. The indictment stated that Dadon struggled to escape and scratched Khalifa but was not physically strong enough to get away. After his arrest, Khalifa said he had picked up Dadon after dropping off workers in the industrial district of Migdal HaEmek, then drove her to a deserted parking lot instead of her destination and stabbed her to death.

The trial began on 3 November 2014. Khalifa's defense attorney argued that his confession had been made under duress and requested it be withdrawn. During the trial, a recording believed by police to capture the moment of the murder was played. On 9 September 2015, Khalifa was convicted of Dadon's murder and sentenced to life in prison. He was also ordered to pay NIS 258,000 in punitive damages to the Dadon family.