Father of Muhammad Abu Khdeir's murderer: "Neglected by the Prison Service until he died. His condition deteriorated before everyone's eyes"
The father of Yosef Haim Ben David, the murderer of teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir, petitioned the court to investigate his son's death at Sharon Prison last month. He claims the Israel Prison Service ignored repeated warnings from the family and lawyers about a sharp deterioration in his medical condition, even on the day before his death. The Prison Service said the circumstances of the death are under review.
Rabbi Saadia Ben David, father of Yosef Haim Ben David, filed a court request to investigate the circumstances of his son's death at Sharon Prison on September 24. The petition, obtained by ynet, alleges that the Israel Prison Service ignored repeated warnings from his lawyers and family about a sharp deterioration in his medical condition, even on the day before his death. According to the petition, the day before his death, Ben David was taken for hospitalization at the Prison Service's mental health center but was returned to his cell that same night. The family attributes the deterioration to an "uncontrolled" change of his psychiatric medication after he was transferred from Ayalon Prison to Sharon Prison in the summer. Attorney Yitzhak Nativ, who visited Ben David regularly, described a condition "radically different" from anything he had seen in him before. Attorney Eran Schwartz contacted the prison commander and wrote that "this is a matter of real life-threatening danger." The petition also claims that the family, including his minor daughter, first learned of his death from a Prison Service press release. The family's attorneys emphasized that "on the face of it, this is a medical failure wrapped in organizational failure and indifference." The Prison Service responded that the circumstances of the death are being investigated by an internal inquiry committee, and that all inmates receive medical care according to their condition.