The Supreme Court recently dismissed the appeal of Daniel Kedar against his conviction for the murder of real estate developer Eldad Peri. The court upheld his life imprisonment sentence. The case, which drew significant public attention, stemmed from a financial dispute between the deceased and Kedar following the insolvency proceedings of Peri’s real estate group.
According to the case files, Kedar had previously paid millions of shekels for two apartments in a residential project but was required to pay a significant additional sum during the rehabilitation proceedings. The court ruling stated that this situation led to a carefully planned, cold-blooded murder. On the morning of October 15, 2021, Kedar ambushed Peri in a synagogue parking lot in Rehovot. After Peri parked his vehicle, Kedar shot him seven times and fled the scene on a motorcycle.
In the detailed verdict, Justice Ofer Grosskopf noted that while the conviction rests on circumstantial evidence and lacks direct testimony of the shooting, the evidentiary framework presented is complete and persuasive. The judge emphasized that the absence of direct evidence does not preclude a criminal conviction when a broad and diverse web of evidence exists. Key evidence cited by the courts included Kedar's clear economic motive, logs of surveillance he conducted around the victim's home, GPS tracking data, and an exact match between his clothing, helmet, and motorcycle type and those recorded at the murder scene. Justice Grosskopf further described the police investigation as thorough and commendable. The ruling concludes a complex criminal proceeding and highlights the Israeli legal approach that a strong chain of circumstantial evidence is sufficient for conviction in the most serious crimes, including murder.