High-profile case9/4/2026

Atף Sabihi, Convicted of the Murders of Danny Katz and Daphna Carmon, Dies

Atף Sabihi died at the age of 68 at Meir Hospital, after more than four decades in prison. He was convicted in two high-profile cases but maintained his innocence until the end of his life.

Key facts

•Died at the age of 68
•A retrial was ordered in 1999
•The appeal was dismissed in March 2005
•The clemency request was submitted in 2021
•Spent more than 40 years in prison

The Danny Katz Case

Danny Katz, 14, from Haifa’s Denia neighborhood, disappeared in December 1983 while on his way to visit a friend; three days later, his body was found in the Sakhnin area. Alongside Sabihi, Ahmad Kuzli, Samir Ghanayem, Fathi Ghanayem and Ali Ghanayem were convicted of kidnapping and murder. All five were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Retrial Did Not Lead to Acquittal

The convicted men recanted their confessions and claimed that investigators had obtained them through violence and severe pressure. After it emerged that material evidence from the investigation had not been provided to the defense, Supreme Court President Aharon Barak ordered a retrial in 1999. The District Court again convicted all five, and in March 2005 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and ruled that guilt had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Murder of Daphna Carmon

Sabihi was also convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Daphna Carmon, a 21-year-old discharged soldier who disappeared in Haifa in June 1982. Her remains were discovered several weeks later in the Beit Oren area. Ahmad Kuzli, Muhammad Sabihi and Kamal Sabihi were convicted in the case alongside him; the Supreme Court rejected the applications for a retrial.

Clemency and Death in Prison

In 2007, President Shimon Peres commuted the sentences of those convicted in the Danny Katz case, but Sabihi remained in prison by virtue of the sentence in the Carmon case as well. In 2021, after serving approximately 37 years in prison, he petitioned President Isaac Herzog for clemency, but did not express remorse because he denied committing the offenses. The request was not granted; according to the Israel Prison Service, the circumstances of the death will be investigated in accordance with standard procedure.

What this means for you

The case illustrates that the decision to hold a retrial does not itself nullify a conviction: the evidence is examined anew, and the court may convict the defendant again. Clemency is a separate procedure and is not a substitute for renewed judicial review of the verdict. The death of a prisoner is also subject to an investigation established by the prison authorities.

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Case analysis based on court rulings