A mother of ten was arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of of injecting insulin into five of her children and presenting them as diabetic patients in order to receive payments from the National Insurance Institute.
The family received a total of NIS 15,000 ($4,110) a month.
The covert police investigation began in early June, when a report was received from Shaare Zedek Medical Center that in the last two months a two and half-year-old toddler was hospitalized twice for uncontrollable convulsions he suffered at home.
During the first hospitalization, which included the child's transfer to the Pediatric Intensive Care unit, doctors suspected that the child was receiving medication from an external source other than the hospital, which caused the symptoms and negatively affected his health.
During the second hospitalization, additional circumstantial evidence accumulated to confirm the suspicions and repeated blood tests demonstrated the presence of insulin from an external source in the child's blood, despite the fact he was not being treated with insulin.
The police investigators collaborated with the hospital administration and the welfare authorities in the Jerusalem Municipality, and carried out a variety of investigative activities that raised suspicion against the mother of the toddler, who is apparently inserting the insulin medication into his body, which is causing a deterioration in his health and delaying his recovery.
At the beginning of July, police investigators arrested the mother and father, residents of Jerusalem in their 30s. The couple was brought for questioning by the police on suspicion of abuse of a helpless minor, assault that caused real harm, and fraud.
As part of the open investigation, the suspicion grew that the mother intentionally interfered with the health of the toddler and the health of her other children in order to create a false impression that they had diabetes, in order to receive a monthly pension from the National Insurance Institute for five of her children.
According to the suspicion, the financial aid that the couple received as an annuity from the National Insurance Institute is NIS 800,000. At the request of the police, a medical opinion was given regarding the health status of all of the couple's children. It became clear that none of the children who were ill had ever contracted diabetes. The suspicion was also raised that the father and mother had violently attacked their children numerous times.
Last Sunday, the father was released by a court under restrictive conditions, and the mother's detention was extended until Tuesday next week.