Holocaust Survivor Murdered in Herzliya: Terrorist Sentenced to Life

The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday sentenced Ibrahim Shalhoub, 29, to life imprisonment for the murder of Ludmila Lipovsky, an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, who was stabbed to death in Herzliya in December 2024.

Shalhoub, from the city of Tulkarm, pleaded guilty and was convicted of murder under aggravated circumstances as an act of terrorism, as well as unlawful possession of a knife. The court also ordered him to pay the maximum compensation permitted by law of NIS 258,000 to Lipovsky’s family.

The attack took place on December 27, 2024, near a commercial area adjacent to an assisted-living complex in Herzliya. Shalhoub armed himself with a knife and attacked Lipovsky at close range while shouting “Allahu Akbar,” stabbing her approximately 11 times. She later died of her wounds. He was shot and neutralized at the scene by Israel Post security guards and taken into custody.

In its sentencing decision, the judges described the killing as an exceptionally brutal act of terror committed against a defenseless elderly woman. Senior Judge Yaron Levy wrote that the crime gravely violated protected social values and was intended to terrorize the civilian population.. “He exploited his permit to stay in Israel to carry out the attack, charged at the victim brutally, and did not stop until he was neutralized by two Israel Post security guards,” the court wrote. 

During sentencing arguments, the prosecution sought a life sentence, emphasizing both the severity of the attack and its timing. Prosecutor Hadas Forer Gafni told the court that the murder was committed at a moment of heightened national anxiety, as Israel faced attacks on multiple fronts. “The horrifying murder was committed during a war, when fears are at their peak and the state is under attack from every direction,” the prosecution said. “A terror attack of this kind in the heart of Herzliya is all the more severe.”

The ruling also noted that Shalhoub was a former Shin Bet informant who had been relocated into Israel after his cooperation with Israeli security authorities was exposed. He was living in Israel lawfully at the time of the attack.