A radical Jew who kidnapped and murdered a Palestinian teen triggering a cycle of violence that escalated into the 2014 Gaza war was sentenced to 55 years in prison by an Israeli court on Tuesday.
Yosef Haim Ben-David was convicted in April by Jerusalem’s District Court of abducting and murdering 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdair in July 2014.
He and two relatives, minors at the time, were found guilty of kidnapping Abu Khdair from his East Jerusalem home.
They also beat him unconscious and drove him to a nearby forest, where Ben-David doused the teen in petrol and burnt him alive.
Prosecutors had demanded Ben-David served a life sentence 25 years in Israel plus another 35 years for the sequence of acts.
Shortly before the sentence was handed down, Ben-David apologised to the court but refused to take responsibility for the act.
“Everything that happened, it was not in my control,’’ he said.
In April the court ruled that Ben-David had been fully aware of his actions when he was involved in the crime and that he was fit to be sentenced.
However his lawyers had tried to claim insanity or reduced responsibility.
Ben-David claimed the murder was revenge for the earlier abduction and slaying of three Israeli teens by two Palestinians in the West Bank.
The two younger relatives were sentenced earlier this year to life and 21 years in prison respectively.
Prosecutors said Ben-David had planned the crime, while the two minors, who have since turned 18, helped him. (dpa/NAN)