Israel court defers Ben-David ruling in Palestinian teen murder

A Jerusalem court on Sunday heard arguments over the mental competence of an Israeli settler who was ruled to have burned alive a Palestinian teenager last year.

Lawyers for Yosef Haim Ben-David say he was not responsible for his actions at the time of the July 2, 2014 abduction and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16.

The incident was part of a spiral of violence that led to a 50-day war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants.

As Ben-David, 31, was brought into court, TV crews shouted to him, "Have you got anything to say? Are you crazy?"

He did not reply and displayed no emotion, but Abu Khdeir's father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, rose from his seat at the back of the courtroom.
"He's not crazy that one, he's a dog," he shouted.

Throughout the 90-minute hearing Ben-David, bearded and wearing the black skullcap of an Orthodox Jew, sat silent and impassive, wearing a prison-issue winter coat over civilian clothes.

He briefly prayed, silently, from a book of psalms, which he kissed before returning it to his coat pocket.

His lawyer Asher Ohiyon said his client was shocked at the accusations against him and told his legal team, "We are Jews, Jews don't do things like that."

That brought an angry snort from Abu Khdeir, siting next to his silent wife.

The prosecution argued that a psychiatric assessment saying he suffered from a mental condition "which could have affected his actions" failed to substantiate its findings, and was inadmissable in court.

The presiding judge said he would make a decision in the coming days, without providing a date.

- Minors convicted of murder -

The next scheduled hearing in the case will be on January 13, for sentencing of two others already convicted for the killing.

On November 30, the court convicted two Jewish Israelis who were minors at the time of the kidnap and killing of Abu Khdeir, from Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. It has not published their names.

The court also found on that date that Ben-David had committed the crime, but held off on convicting him after a last-minute request by his lawyers for a psychiatric evaluation.

The stay of judgement was seen by some as fanning the flames of a wave of Palestinian attacks and protests that since October 1 have claimed the lives of 123 on the Palestinian side, 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

Abu Khdeir was abducted and killed weeks after the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.

The Gaza war that followed killed more than 2,200 people, making 2014 the bloodiest year of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the United Nations.
Source: AFP