Israel is used to being on top of the U.S news agenda…. but not like this.

Residents of the city of Ramle, near Tel Aviv were shocked to find out that the suspect in the string of 20 cruel stabbings in the U.S. that left five people dead- used to be their next door neighbor.

Elias Abuelazam, 34 year old Israeli Arab, called “Eli” by his friends, was stopped while trying to board a Delta Air Lines flight to Tel Aviv.

His mother told Israeli Radio: “I do not believe these charges are true. My son is a religious, God-fearing man who always assists anyone who needs help.”

However, reports in the Israeli press say that Abuelazam got involved with drugs after high school, and was sent by his mother to the U.S. about 20 years ago for rehabilitation. He has been living there ever since. He married an American woman in 2004 but divorced three years later.

Abuelazam used to visit Israel every once in a while. His friends said that he was a nerd in high school, but recently seemed short tempered on the verge of violence. One of his friends told local Israeli media: “He had madness in his eyes and if he got angry you needed three people to hold him down”.

Last year he allegedly stabbed a family member during an argument on a visit to Israel, but no charges were brought against him.

Now the Israeli police are checking whether his arrest can shed light on some unsolved murder cases in Israel.