
The Military Prosecution on Tuesday morning announced that it will add a charge of nationalist motives to an indictment filed against the murderer of Israel Prisons Service officer Yochai Avni, who was killed last month.
Avni's family responded: "The family feels great relief this morning, praises the indictment which was filed, and thanks the Military Prosecution for listening to the claims which were presented to it."
"The indictment filed this morning states clearly the nationalist motive for the murder which the lowly terrorist carried out, which took the life of Yochai Avni, of blessed memory, and there is in that some comfort for the bereaved family."
Yochai Avni (40), a dog handler from the Israel Prisons Service, was found dead in his apartment that was set on fire in Giv'on Hahadasha.
Avni was found unconscious with stab marks in the house where the fire broke out, and the rescue forces that were called to the house pronounced him dead at the scene.
The investigation revealed that late one night at the beginning of July, Mansour entered Giv'on Hahadasha, infiltrating pre-1967 Israel without legal permission to do so. After entering the village, he tried to break into several homes without success.
At this point, he broke into the house that Avni was renting through the window, while the deceased was sleeping.
A physical struggle developed between the two, during which Mansour took a sharp object and stabbed Yochai numerous times, until he collapsed on the floor. Later he also stabbed him with another large knife that he took from the kitchen, and then stabbed him in the neck and killed him.
The investigation also showed that after the brutal murder, Mansour stole several items from the house and fled. Before leaving, he lit a fire inside the house, resulting in a fire which burnt out within a short period of time. The murderer fled the village to Judea and Samaria, and on his way home burned the items he stole.
The investigation did not find any information that could indicate a connection between Avni’s place of work at the Prison Service and the murder, or any possibility of a prior acquaintance between them.
Last week, a prosecutor's statement was filed against Ibrahim Mansour, a 22-year-old Palestinian Arab, resident of the village of Bidu. At the time, the statement did not attribute to Mansour any nationalist motives.