Insanity plea for killer of Palestinian boy burned alive

It was unclear if the verdicts would assuage fury over a perceived double standard in Israel’s treatment of Jewish and Muslim suspects.

The trial, which has seen frequent delays and stretched out over the course of a year, however, is not over.

In the ruling, Judge Jacob Zaban of Jerusalem’s District Court determined that the ringleader, 31-year-old Yosef Haim Ben David, and two Israeli minors – whose names were not released – snatched Abu Khdeir off an east Jerusalem sidewalk in July 2014 and burned him alive in a forest west of the city. The court said the submission of the evaluation was “contrary to proper and appropriate procedure”, but scheduled another hearing in Ben-David’s case for December 20. The report itself, and its provenance, have been kept firmly under wraps.

Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was abducted and killed on July 2, 2014, and his body was found in a forest in West Jerusalem. The judicial judge found in that Ben David drove the auto while the 2 youths beat Abu Khdeir unconscious within the back seat.

“The judges acknowledged that the religious Israeli settler accused of masterminding the murder did kidnap and bludgeon Mohammed Abu Khdeir, but they’ve delayed a conviction while they review a last-minute defense claim he was mentally not responsible for his actions”.

The initial police response to and investigation of the murder was tainted by incompetence and institutionalized racism.

Two sets of laws are at work in the West Bank, where the Abu Khdeir family live.

The Gush Etzion Junction has been hit hard in the recent wave of stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks that have swept Israel and the West Bank over the past two months. An Eritrean – mistaken by a security guard and by bystanders for an assailant, a Palestinian bystander, mistaken by an attacker for a Jewish Israeli, as well as a United States national were also killed.

Mohammed was abducted from outside the main mosque in Shuafat, a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. The family alerted police after witnesses saw him being taken. The officer, who was not named, was found liable and sentenced to six weeks of community service.

In Jerusalem, the family of Fadi Alloun launched court proceedings over the killing of the 19-year-old, who was shot dead on October 4.

But the Israeli government may continue making efforts to crack down on Jewish extremists, not only for Israelis’ and Palestinians’ safety, but to prevent further outbreaks of violence and instability. In August, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that so-called administrative detention, long an Israeli tactic to jail Palestinian suspects without trial or access to evidence, would be used on Israeli terror suspects, as well.

Abu Khdeir’s father Hussein denounced the proceedings.

“It’s been one year and four months already, and it’s going to last until January at least and after that, God knows when it will end”. He reiterated his concerns outside the courtroom on Monday morning before the verdict came in.

Israeli authorities said the suspects had made a decision to kill an Arab in revenge and equipped themselves with cable ties, petrol and other materials before randomly choosing Abu Khdeir.

“I don’t think we will ever get justice from this court for the killing of Mohammed”, he said.