A preliminary hearing was held this week at the Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court in the trial of Chen Cohen, who is charged with three counts of threatening his late estranged partner, Lia Cohen Malka, and her father, Yaakov. The proceedings opened with a heated verbal confrontation between the defendant and the family of the deceased, who was murdered last June by an explosive device detonated in her vehicle on the Ayalon Highway. In response to accusations from Lia’s mother, Cohen claimed the family was responsible for her death.
It should be noted that Cohen, 37, was previously arrested on suspicion of ordering the murder, but was released after the police investigation into that matter reached a dead end. The current indictment does not allege his involvement in the killing, but focuses on a systematic pattern of threats he allegedly conducted prior to the incident. According to the indictment, Cohen sent dozens of threatening text and voice messages to the family. Specifically, it is alleged that within less than three hours, the defendant sent approximately 95 threatening messages to Lia’s father, containing severe and harsh language.
The deceased's father claimed he had filed a police complaint several months before the tragic event, attaching those WhatsApp messages and voice recordings as evidence, asserting that the writing was on the wall. During the hearing, Cohen’s defense attorneys, Raies Abu Saif and Amir Kimchi, requested a postponement of the formal reading of the indictment to allow them time to review all investigation materials. Judge Tal Ostfeld granted the defense’s request and scheduled the next hearing for November 2026, when the defendant will be required to respond to the charges.
This case has generated significant media and public attention, particularly in light of claims regarding previous failures and family conflicts surrounding child custody. As the report indicates, this is a legal proceeding occurring in the shadow of a great tragedy, with the parties involved in severe conflict both inside and outside the courtroom, as observed in previous custody hearings that involved riots and physical and verbal violence. It is important to emphasize that at this stage, these are allegations detailed in an indictment, the legal process has not yet been resolved, and the defendant is presumed innocent regarding the charges against him.