Charity says no taker for cash meant to free Israeli held in Arab country

The Israeli emergency response and rescue service ZAKA is considering returning the $120,000 in donations it raised in an effort to free an Israeli man imprisoned in an unnamed Arab country on murder charges.

ZAKA on Monday said it was unable to locate a local officials to facilitate the transfer the “blood money” to secure the freedom of 21-year-old Ben Hassin, who is facing either a 25-year prison sentence or the death penalty.

Hassin has been imprisoned since June 2015 in an Arab state with which Israel has no diplomatic relations, after he allegedly killed a cab driver who threatened to kill him upon discovering that he was Jewish.

The name of the state is being kept under gag order in Israel.

Last month, ZAKA launched a crowdfunding effort on The Chesed Fund website to rescue Hassin, a day after his father and Likud minister Ayoub Kara both implored the public to donate money to save his life.

The case had been gagged by the IDF Military Censor until late last month, when portions were allowed for publication to allow Hassin’s father to appeal for help.

Hassin, who also holds Canadian citizenship, was apparently in the Arab country to visit his grandparents, but while he was there decided to enlist in the fight against the Islamic State group.

According to his father, Ilan, Hassin faces either 25 years in jail or the death penalty.

However, he said his son could be released if he pays $120,000 in blood money to the cab driver’s family.

Hassin Senior said he promised the taxi driver’s family that the “sulha” peacemaking payment would be delivered by last Sunday, and that this could facilitate his son’s release.

The sentencing date was originally scheduled for last Sunday, but appears to have been pushed off.

As the case was revealed last month, Ilan Hassin appeared on Israeli television, pleading for help to raise the cash to free his son.

“I don’t have that money,” he said. “Help me.”

He also played a recording of his son, speaking by phone to him from prison in English, in which he said he had been tortured. The younger Hassin is heard saying he had been beaten, had had his fingernails pulled out, and had been suspended from a ceiling.

Ilan Hassin is Israeli. Ben Hassin’s mother has reportedly lived in Canada for 30 years.

Some details of the story were first revealed in November by Minister Kara, who posted a video of himself discussing specifics of the case on Facebook.

However, due to the sensitivity of the issue and to ensure the safety of both Hassin and his family, the military censor instructed Kara to remove the video. Kara said he had been trying to help the family and save Hassin’s life.

Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Eitan Weiss told Israel Hayom that further details of the case could not be made public as “we are worried that Islamic terrorists would discover that there is an Israeli in prison [in the unnamed country] and try to find him and harm him.”

He added: “We hope that [Hassin’s] father succeeds in obtaining the money he is meant to give as compensation, and that his son will return home as quickly as possible.”

Alexander Fulbright contributed to this report.