An Israeli man has been convicted of murdering a Palestinian teenager after a Jerusalem court rejected his insanity plea.

Yosef Chaim Ben-David understood what he was doing and was in full control of his actions when he murdered Mohammed Abu Khdeir in July 2014, a Jerusalem court ruled today.

The court convicted Ben-David for charges of murder, kidnapping for the purpose of murder, and battery causing bodily harm.
The Palestinian teenager was abducted, beaten and burned alive in an act of supposed revenge following the murders of Israeli teenagers Gilad Sha'ar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach by Hamas terrorists.

Ben-David’s two accomplices, both minors, were convicted of murder in November at Jerusalem District Court. Ben-David’s conviction was postponed due to a last-minute psychiatric evaluation claiming he was not responsible for his actions.

A statement from the Justice Ministry said: “The court has found that at the time he committed the offense, the accused was not psychotic, fully understood the facts, was responsible for his actions, had no difficulty in understanding reality and had the capacity to prevent the crime.”

He is due to be sentenced next month.

The murdered teen’s father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, had called for the demolition of Ben-David’s home, in keeping with the destruction of homes of Palestinian attackers.

“His house should be demolished just like they do for all other terrorists,” Mr Abu Khdeir said outside the courtroom.

The murdered teenager was honoured on Israel’s terror victims’ memorial this week to mark Yom Hazikaron. He is believed to be the first Arab killed by Jews to be added to the memorial.