The State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against Yan Shamala, 41, of Be'er Sheva, accusing him of inserting prescription medication inside jars of baby food puree and returning them to supermarket shelves in Jerusalem.
According to the indictment, five infants and toddlers who ate the contaminated food were poisoned, taken to hospitals, and hospitalized.
The indictment relates to incidents that took place in May and June 2026. Prosecutors have asked the court to extend Shamala's detention until the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him.
According to the indictment, Shamala possessed prescription drugs from the benzodiazepine family, which are prohibited for use by children without specialist approval. On several occasions, he allegedly crushed pills, placed them inside jars of "Prinok" baby food puree, closed the jars, and placed them on the shelves of Zol U'Begadol supermarkets in Jerusalem, where they appeared to be ordinary products offered for sale.
In one incident, Shamala allegedly placed two jars on a baby-products shelf at the chain's Jaffa Street branch near the Mahane Yehuda Market. According to the indictment, each jar contained an amount equivalent to approximately 17 or more prescription pills.
One of the jars was purchased by a mother. The following day, her 12-year-old daughter fed the puree to her two younger sisters, aged approximately three-and-a-half years and eight months.
Immediately afterward, the two younger children collapsed and suffered impaired consciousness and extreme weakness. They were evacuated by intensive care ambulance and hospitalized for several days. Tests found severe benzodiazepine poisoning at levels ten times higher than the maximum value within the normal range.
In another incident, Shamala is accused of placing four jars containing the medication at a Jaffa Street branch near Jerusalem's Central Bus Station.
According to the indictment, each of those jars also contained the equivalent of approximately 17 or more prescription pills. One was purchased and later eaten by three young children - two approximately three years old and an 11-month-old baby.
Within minutes, all three began suffering symptoms including confusion, drowsiness, instability, and loss of muscle tone. They were taken to the hospital and admitted, and tests revealed severe benzodiazepine poisoning.
Following the incidents, all of the company's baby food purees were removed from the supermarket, and additional jars containing the substance were discovered during testing. Closure orders were subsequently issued for two branches of the supermarket chain due to concerns for public health.
The indictment charges Shamala with five counts of using a dangerous poison and five counts of assaulting a minor or helpless person. He is also charged with two counts of attempted use of a dangerous poison, two counts of attempted assault of a minor or helpless person, and theft.
Attorney Moria Beina Weisman from the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office said: "Five babies and toddlers were harmed, and these incidents could have ended with far more serious consequences and harmed additional children. These were young babies and toddlers, the youngest just eight months old, who were harmed by food intended for them."
"Targeting specifically children of these ages through a basic product intended to nourish them compounds the severity of the acts attributed to the defendant," she added.