Jerusalem, Israel - Trial Of Father Accused Of Killing Son Opened

Jerusalem, Israel - The trial of Israel Valas, the yeshiva student accused of killing his 3-month-old son, opened Monday morning at the Jerusalem District Court. Valas arrived at the hearing accompanied by family members and relatives and seemed relaxed.

The first person to testify was Sergeant Major Yuval Kaminitz from the Moriah police station, who recounted his meeting with Valas at the hospital. "I arrived and saw a father with a baby in critical condition, and he seemed indifferent to me. This aroused my suspicion."

Attorney Feldman, Valas' lawyer, commented: "What kind of psychological training do you have to determine that he seemed indifferent?"

Aviva Levi, a nurse at the Tipat Halav childcare services, said that "when the mother and child visited the clinic, I got the impression that the baby was taken care of and was not neglected."

According to the indictment, 19-year-old Valas harshly abused the baby: He slapped him, pinched him in his face and neck, on a place where he suffered from a birth defect. "The father committed the acts out of anger over the baby's crying, and as a result of these acts the baby suffered from hemorrhages in his face," the State Prosecutor's office elaborated.