After his mother's death in 1891, his father married her younger sister, the writer Hemda Ben-Yehuda (née Beila Jonas), so Itamar's aunt became his stepmother.

Due to his poor financial situation, his Ashkenazi background, and their age difference, Abushedid's parents did not approve of their marriage.

He based his proposal, which included equal rights and free movement between different ethnic and religious groups, on the Swiss model.

“The spirit in Palestine among Jews and non-Jews,” he declared, “is very much in favor of the plan, because it would lead to peace and harmony.”[3] In 1939, as his financial situation deteriorated and in need of a steady income, Ben-Avi left his family for the United States to take up a posting as the Jewish National Fund representative in New York City.

His body was brought back to Eretz Israel for burial in 1947, and was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

He was the chief editor and journalist of Doar HaYom, the then Hebrew style-twin of the British Daily Mail, from 1920 to 1933.

In his numerous opinion and commentary articles in Doar HaYom he also advocated the widespread use of the international language Esperanto.

This biography was titled Avi ("My Father") and was printed in his own made-up version of a Hebrew alphabet using Latin letters and some variations thereof.