Police suspect that Netanel Arami's rappelling rope was purposely cut (illustrative photo). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli police suspect that Netanel Arami—the 27-year-old construction worker who was recently killed when he fell from the 11th floor of a Petah Tikva construction site—was murdered by an Arab co-worker who cut the rope holding Arami while he was rappelling on the side of the building, Israel National News reported Tuesday.

The police’s reported assessment of the case falls in line with prior statements by Arami family members and Israeli politicians. Member of Knesset Moshe Feiglin (Likud) has said, “[Police] went up to the roof and found the slashed rope, heard the Arabs laughing. A rappelling rope that has been cut looks completely different from one that was worn out. And there are two of them—one main rope and one for security.”

Although the investigation of the incident is ongoing, Arami’s wife Moriya said Sunday that her husband was adept at rappelling, making an accident less likely. Netanel “was a religious man, but he always went to work without a kippah on his head out of fear of the Palestinian workers employed at construction sites,” she said, according to Israel National News.