Yosef Yehudai, the Jerusalem chief of police, died suddenly of a heart attack at is home shortly after midnight Friday. He was 42.
Considered one of the most promising young police officers in Israel, Yehudai was spoken of as a possible candidate for the office of national police inspector-general within the next 10 years.
His tenure in Jerusalem included the 18 months of the Palestinian uprising, which frequently spilled over into Arab East Jerusalem. Yehudai was credited with keeping the capital relatively calm compared to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Born in Romania in 1947, Yehudai emigrated to Israel in 1961. He had served with the paramilitary border police and the regular police since he was 17.
At the time of his death, Yehudai was investigating the murder of Professor Menahem Stern of the Hebrew University, one of Israel’s most eminent scholars, who was fatally stabbed Thursday morning on his way to the campus.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
