An Israeli man has been found guilty of murdering a Palestinian teenager in a retaliation killing after a court rejected the 31 year old's plea of insanity. Jerusalem district court ruled Yosef Haim Ben David was sane and understood his actions when with two underage accomplices he kidnapped 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir in July 2014.

The youth was driven to a Jerusalem forest, beaten unconscious, doused with flammable material, set on fire and killed. Two Israeli teenagers were sentenced in February to life in prison and 21 years in jail respectively for their part in the murder. Judges delayed the verdict for Ben David, after his defence filed a last-minute insanity disorder plea.

The delay sparked protests outside court with relatives of the victim and Israeli Arabs denouncing it as evidence of double standards in the country's legal system. Ben David is due to be sentenced in May.

Abu Khdeir's slaying was in retaliation for the killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in summer 2014. The murders sparked a wave of violence that peaked with a 50-day conflict in Gaza.