A 22-year-old Israeli, a Jew, is facing murder charges in a nation that does not maintain diplomatic ties with Israel. Ben Hessin, who went abroad to battle ISIS, fired two shots at a driver who tried to kill him. the driver died of his wounds a number of days later. He has been in custody since June 6, 2015 in a nation that does not maintain ties with Israel.
Hessin traveled to the unnamed country to visit his grandparents, who still live there. He joined local forces in the battle against ISIS. On leave, the driver of the vehicle transporting him tried to kill him when he learned he is an Israeli. Armed, Hessin fired in self-defense, killing the driver/attacker. He remains imprisoned until the death sentence is handed down against him.
Ilan Hessin, his father, told Walla News of his concern, explaining it has been a year and seven months. He adds the taxi driver that his son shot wanted to turn him over to ISIS after learning he was an Israeli Jew.
Israel Foreign Ministry officials report they have been in touch with the man’s family for some time, stressing his safety and well-being as an Israeli citizen is of paramount importance.
The case was revealed two months ago by Deputy Minister [at the time] Ayoub Kara, who was then compelled to remove the information from social media due to security establishment censorship on the case. He came under fire for releasing information on the case. Kara has since been appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
A fund has been launched by ZAKA to save the mans life.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Seriously. What was this kid thinking? Even John Wayne in the movies wouldn’t have tried to pull off a stunt like that.
Name to daven?
While I don’t doubt the sincerity of the campaign, I wonder what good the money will do. Has the country set a ransom? If they’re one of the arab countries who hate Israel, would they really take money in exchange for his release?
DaMoshe, It’s a verified campaign by ZAKA itself, and you question whether the money would really help? Did you spend more than the 30 seconds it took to type that, to actually click the fundraising link and call the number listed there.
Or did you perhaps just shoot off ?
Lawyers, baksheesh, incentives. The $120k they need seems far too little to save a Jewish life.