Binyamin (Ben) Hassin, an Israeli citizen born in Iraqi Kurdistan, was released on Wednesday after more than a decade in Iraqi prison. He was sentenced to death in 2020 but the penalty was commuted following a November 2025 reconciliation (sulha) with the family of a driver who died in a 2015 incident. Hassin is expected to arrive in Israel soon, The Zioneer reports.
Binyamin (Ben) Hassin, the Israeli citizen held in Iraqi prison for over a decade, has been freed following a reconciliation (sulha) reached with the family of a driver who died in a 2015 incident, The Zioneer reports. The death sentence imposed in 2020 was commuted, and Hassin is expected to arrive in Israel soon.
The Zioneer's reporting on the case unfolded on Wednesday. At 16:06 Jerusalem, the desk first reported that an Israeli citizen imprisoned in Iraq for 11 years had been released. Concurrent updates identified the inmate as a Jewish man saved from execution, and then fully identified him as Binyamin Hassin, with details of the death penalty commutation via a sulha. A further bulletin at 17:54 Jerusalem provided a fuller account, including Hassin's background and the $250,000 payment from donations that facilitated the reconciliation.
Background: Hassin, born in Iraqi Kurdistan, moved to Israel as a child. He returned in 2014 to visit family and joined Kurdish forces fighting ISIS. In 2015, during a taxi ride, the driver allegedly threatened to hand him over to ISIS upon hearing Hebrew. A struggle ensued, the driver was injured and later died, and Hassin was arrested. In 2020, he was sentenced to death by hanging. Following an international campaign, a sulha was reached in November 2025, leading to the commutation of the sentence and his eventual release.
The precise timeline of Hassin's return to Israel remains to be confirmed.
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