The Jewish extremist found to be the ringleader of a group that beat and burned alive a Palestinian teenager in 2014 has been handed a life sentence plus 20 extra years in prison.
State prosecutor Uri Korb had demanded Yosef Haim Ben-David be given life for the killing of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, as well as 20 years for his kidnapping and an additional 15 years for other crimes – including the attempted kidnapping of a child.
“This is an evil and cruel man who does not represent our civilized society,” Korb said at a hearing where Ben-David was due to be sentenced later on Tuesday.
Korb said he had “brought shame upon our society and offended our values”.
In accepting most of the prosecution’s arguments, the judge also ordered Ben-David to pay 150,000 shekels ($39,000) to Abu Khdeir’s family, and an additional 20,000 shekels ($5,000) to the family of another Arab child he attempted to abduct.
Ben-David, wearing a burgundy yarmulke and a black shirt, told the court he was “sorry”.
“I am sorry for the family. This is not me. I wasn’t in control,” he said.
Abu Khdeir was 16 when he was kidnapped from Jerusalem on July 2, 2014 and beaten, with his burned body found hours later in a forest in the western part of the city.
A forensic report showed smoke in his lungs, indicating he was alive when set alight.
His murder was carried out by a gang of three Jewish extremists, in revenge for the murder of Israeli teenagers Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach, who were abducted from a hitchhiking stop in Gush Etzion by Arab terrorists, an executed in cold blood not long after.
Abu Khdeir’s father, speaking ahead of the expected verdict, said no punishment would be enough.
“Whatever they decide, our wounds will not heal – the boy will not come back,” he told AFP.
Ben-David, 31, was found in November to have led the assault, but his lawyers submitted last-minute documents saying he suffered from mental illness.
A court rejected the appeal last month, finding him sane, and found him guilty of the crime.
In February, a court sentenced Ben-David’s two young accomplices to life and 21 years in prison for the killing, which was part of a spiral of violence in the run-up to the 2014 Gaza war.
AFP contributed to this report.
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