Yosef Ben-David, one of the defendants who was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years for the 2014 kidnapping/murder of Muhmad Abu-Khadir has launched a hunger strike. The hunger strike began approximately two week ago. The High Court of Justice received an appeal from Ben-David in 2018, which was rejected.

In his letter, Ben-David cites a number of reasons for the hunger strike. He explains “the State of Israel has released hundreds of Arab prisoners with the blood of dozens of Jews on their hands, and I was arrested while still a minor, sentenced to life imprisonment without a release date, when in fact, I did not actually commit murder.” He was 16 at the time of the commission of the crime.

The second reason, “There are security prisoners imprisoned under deplorable condition and they suffer harassment. Another motive for the strike is the Israel Prison Service does not provide halachic needs for prisoners in the N’vei Tirzah Prison where he is serving his sentence.

“The shame of the State of Palestine,” the prisoner writes angrily, “many Jews suffer from this leftist state, I have chosen this way of hunger strike, possibly to the end, so I have nothing to lose, I am fighting a war with my body. At least I will know I id not die in vain”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)