Court to discuss sanity of Israeli who burned Palestinian teen alive

An Israeli court will hold a hearing on Tuesday to determine whether the leader of a Jewish gang that burned a Palestinian teenager alive is sufficiently sane to be held responsible.

A spokeswoman for the Jerusalem District Court said the discussion, which was scheduled for 1300 GMT, would be held behind closed doors since it involved psychological evaluations of Yosef Haim Ben-David.

She could not say whether there would be a decision on Tuesday.

Mohanned Jabara, the lawyer for Mohammed Abu Khdeir, told AFP the court was due to rule “on whether the main defendant Yosef Haim Ben-David was responsible for his actions or not.”

Abu Khdeir, from the Shuafat area of east Jerusalem, was killed on July 2, 2014 after being kidnapped by three Jewish extremists, who poured petrol on him and burned him alive.

Prosecutors said Ben-David, 31, was the leader of the three-member gang and he was found responsible for carrying out the killing along with two minors by a court in November.

However, shortly before the ruling his lawyers entered a plea of insanity which would mean he was not criminally responsible for his actions.

The two minors were convicted and prosecutors have called for life terms to be passed down at their sentencing, which is due to take place on Thursday.

Jabara stressed that if he is found sane on Tuesday, Ben-David would be sentenced on Thursday along with the two minors.

Ben-David, a resident of the Adam settlement in the West Bank, is said to have wanted revenge for the kidnapping and killing of three Israelis at the hands of Palestinians in the occupied territory.