Israeli doctor euthanizes daughter, takes own life

(JTA) — A doctor in Israel euthanized his daughter and committed suicide.

Relatives of the 60-year-old physician found him dead on Thursday in his garage and his daughter, who had terminal cancer, in her bed at their house in Nir Yisrael, a moshav in Israel’s south, according to a report in NRG, the news site of the daily Ma’ariv.

NRG quoted a police source as saying the physician gave his daughter, who was 31, a lethal dose of an unspecified barbiturate and then hung himself in the garage.

He reportedly called his brother and told him he was going to put an end to his daughter’s life and his own and asked his brother’s forgiveness before hanging up.

The man’s chest showed stabbing wounds. Police believe he tried to stab himself to death but hung himself instead.

The mayor of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Yair Farajun, told NRG the daughter’s mother was a teacher.

“This family is made up of good, hard-working moshavniks,” Farajun said. “It’s very difficult to comprehend this tragedy.”

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