Israeli teens guilty of killing Palestinian teen

Israeli police quickly arrested Yosef Haim Ben-David, a 31-year-old Orthodox Jewish man, and two Israeli youths, who confessed to killing Khdeir.

Hussein, Mohammad Abu Khdair’s father, said Mr Ben David was attempting to mislead the court.

Meetings at all political levels, strict Israeli procedures, forcing new laws, and consolidation of security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel are all in vain, since the Palestinians are still angry with the Israeli violations against the holy sites in Jerusalem and the killing of Palestinians in cold blood. Sentencing for the teenagers is expected in January.

The teen was burned alive in a forest. “The lawyer representing the murderers was screaming at the judge and mocking him”, said Aisha Abu Khdeir, an aunt of Mohammed. The two accomplices, beat the Palestinian teen unconscious in the back of a vehicle being driven by Ben David, according to their court confessions. Israeli forces have killed 97 Palestinians, of whom 58 were identified by Israel as assailants or caught on camera carrying out attacks, while others were shot in clashes with police and troops. The confrontation evolved into the 50-day-war that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to United Nations figures.

“Not only did Guardian editors lead with the death of the terrorists in the headline, they added a strap line which focused on the number of Palestinians killed in ‘the latest wave of violence, ‘ said the report”. There is no schedule for Ben David pending the court’s review of the psychiatric opinion of his insanity plea.

Ben-David and the two unnamed minors confessed to the crime and even reenacted the grisly murder for investigators, according to police.

During the trial, the two minors turned against Ben David, blaming him saying he had given them pills before the killing, but the court viewed a surveillance tape of Ben David and the two minors preparing to carry out the murder, by practising punches and strikes. “I am afraid that the court will let them go in the end”.

Ayman Odeh, a senior lawmaker from Israel’s Arab minority, said: “The state is sending a clear message of forgiveness and understanding when it comes to Jewish terror”.

Khdair’s body was found in a forest in West Jerusalem on 2 July 2014, two days after the bodies of the Israeli teenagers abducted and murdered by Hamas militants were found. His death sparked weeks of angry protests by Palestinians outraged by the apparent revenge killing. “When we try to claim we are better than our enemies … we will always have this incident as a mirror”, Corb said. The Palestinians say the violence is rooted in frustration over a lack of hope for obtaining independence.

The ruling was welcomed by Israeli officials who stated that hate crimes would not be tolerated.