he was married to hava yaari, who worked as a foreign securities adviser at a bank, and they had two sons, tzahi and yehuda. in 1985 hava and her friend, pharmacy owner aviva granot, embezzled funds from mala malavsky, a jewish-american tourist and holocaust survivor, and later murdered her by striking her over the head with a rolling pin and running her over with a car. their trial was conducted amid heavy publicity and media attention, and was considered the most highly sensational murder case in israel's history at the time. in 1987, they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, but their sentences were later reduced for good behavior, and they were released in 2000. ehud yaari divorced his wife following her conviction.