Israeli Christian murdered by 'Santa Claus' during Christmas parade Police were searching for suspects in Friday's murder of Gabi Kadees in Jaffa, a predominantly Arab port district of Tel Aviv. But authorities said there was no indication of a sectarian motive. Mr Kadees, the head of Jaffa's communal Orthodox Association, was stabbed in the back during a parade marking Jesus's birth according to the Eastern church calender. The assailant, who slipped away in the crowd, wore a Father Christmas costume. "He also killed our Christmas joy, and also killed the human and spiritual values embodied by Father Christmas - who makes children happy on Christmas Eve," said Atallah Hanna, a senior Greek Orthodox cleric. Christians make up fewer than five per cent of the population of the Jewish state, whose biggest minority is Muslim. The district of Jaffa has seen some mob violence as well as tensions between long-time Arab residents and Jews. Luba Samri, a police spokeswoman, said that while all angles of the murder were being investigated there was "nothing to suggest a nationalistic motive" - Israel's term for crimes along political, religious or sectarian lines.