A man has stabbed a rabbi to death in a Beersheva yeshiva.

The 70-year-old victim, Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, was understood to have been giving the man guidance when the attack took place. Rabbi Abuhatzeira was a well-regarded scholar of kabbalah.

The man was named by the Israeli media as Asher Dahan and was said to be a fairly regular visitor to the yeshiva.

After the stabbing he was quickly detained by yeshiva students before the police arrived, and will now undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

His lawyer said he had not intended for the rabbi to die.