Former prisoner sets fire to himself in Ramle health clinic

The man said he felt failed by the organizations designed to help him rehabilitate.

Burn marks on the floor where Oren Avraham set himself on fire in a Ramle clinic. (photo credit: ISRAEL FIRE AND RESUCE SERVICES)
Burn marks on the floor where Oren Avraham set himself on fire in a Ramle clinic.
(photo credit: ISRAEL FIRE AND RESUCE SERVICES)
A man set himself on fire in a health clinic in Ramle on Thursday, Israeli Fire and Rescue Services reported. The man was later identified as Oren Avraham, a man known as Israel's number one crook, N12 News reported.
Avraham entered the clinic holding a flammable accelerant which he poured on himself before setting himself alight. He was taken to the hospital with second degree burns covering 50% of his body.
"There is no point to my life anymore," Avraham told N12 immediately before the incident Thursday morning. "I am thrown in the street like a homeless person. A dog lives better than me and I have nowhere to live. I owe people money and the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority doesn't want to rehabilitate me."
Avraham also told N12 that he felt failed by the organizations designed to help him rehabilitate.
Last year, Avraham, who was in prison and about to be released, asked Israel's Prisons Service if he could remain in jail, saying he did not feel he could find a framework outside of prison, the Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv reported.
Avraham had previously tried to end his life in 2020, following his release from prison, N12 reported.
Avraham, who was imprisoned for various charges relating to fraud, was also known as the national annoyance, the magician from Ramle prison and Hudini, TheMarker reported. He earned these nicknames in part because of pranks he played on politicians, celebrities and even the judges who sentenced him.
Avraham once ordered 40 pizzas from prison to a government meeting and has sent purchases made at a sex store to the homes of judges, using the judges' own credit cards, TheMarker reported.