"We forced him into the car. The guy tried to fight, started shouting 'Allahu akbar!' and cursing," Yosef Haim Ben-David, 29, from the Adam settlement, told police and Shin Bet security agency interrogators when he described the brutal murder of Jerusalem teen Muhammed Abu Khdeir. His description of his actions was broadcast on Channel 2 News on Monday evening. Ben-David and two minors were arrested in July after Abu Khdeir's murder -- committed as an act of retribution for the kidnap and murder of three Jewish youths in June -- shocked the nation, exacerbating ethno-religious tensions and sparking violent protests. Ben-David and his two 16-year-old accomplices have been indicted in the Jerusalem District Court. "I told M. to press hard and finish him off, because [guys like] these have nine lives, so he wouldn't 'come back to life,'" Ben-David told officials. "We stopped, I turned off the lights, I was shaking from fear he'd 'come back.' I said, 'Where's the crowbar? Where's the crowbar? And then I hit him in the head with it. I was saying 'That's for the Fogel family [five members of the family were killed in their home by terrorists], and that's for Shalhevet Pas [a baby who was shot and killed by terrorists],'" the suspect continued. Ben-David also told interrogators how he and the two other suspects threw gas on Abu Khdeir's body while the teen was still unconscious, and set him alight, burning him alive. "I told N. to bring the gas. He brought a bottle of gas out of the trunk and started pouring it on the guy's head, and then he gave it to me and I put more on his legs. I kicked the guy's legs three times. While I was kicking, I said 'This is for Eyal, and this is for Naftali, and this is for
' I meant for the three kidnapped [youths] who were found in Hebron. I used a lighter to set the guy's legs on fire, and then everything was flames," Ben-David said. According to what the suspect, after he and his partners committed the murder, they regretted it. "I told them, 'To tell you the truth -- there was a goal, but this isn't for us. We made a mistake, we're merciful Jews, we're human.' We got really down," he said. The Jerusalem District Court has remanded Ben-David until the end of his trial. The two minors are also under remand.
Credit: Reuters
"I locked all the car doors right away. At the moment, I didn't believe it was really happening. That was when M. choked the guy, and I shouted, 'Finish him, finish him, kill him!' The guy started to gurgle. After a certain point he stopped fighting. I was scared he'd come back to life," Ben-David's recount of events continued.
Suspect in revenge murder of Arab teen recounts event
Yosef Ben-David, 29, and two teenaged accomplices abducted, beat, and murdered Muhammed Abu Khdeir, 16, of Shuafat in Jerusalem by burning him alive as retribution for kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teens • Ben-David: We regretted it.
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