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| Israeli soldier convicted over killing of wounded Palestinian attacker | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An Israeli soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron in March last year has been found guilty of manslaughter at the end of one of the country’s most polarising court cases in recent memory. | An Israeli soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron in March last year has been found guilty of manslaughter at the end of one of the country’s most polarising court cases in recent memory. |
| A three-judge military court sitting in Tel Aviv said Sgt Elor Azaria, a medic who was 19 at the time, had acted outside the army’s rules of engagement when he killed Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, shortly after Sharif and another Palestinian had stabbed and wounded a soldier at an Israeli military checkpoint. | |
| The other Palestinian involved in the knife attack was shot and died immediately, but Sharif was alive when Azaria killed him. | The other Palestinian involved in the knife attack was shot and died immediately, but Sharif was alive when Azaria killed him. |
| Reading for more than two hours from the verdict, chief judge Col Maya Heller said Azaria shot Sharif out of revenge. The court ruled that accounts of the incident that he had given were “unreliable and problematic” and his defence contradictory and flawed. | Reading for more than two hours from the verdict, chief judge Col Maya Heller said Azaria shot Sharif out of revenge. The court ruled that accounts of the incident that he had given were “unreliable and problematic” and his defence contradictory and flawed. |
| “We found there was no room to accept his arguments,” she said. “His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die.” | |
| As the verdict was read out, Azaria’s mother shouted at the panel of judges: “You should be ashamed of yourselves”. Other members of Azaria’s family clapped as the decision was delivered, shouting “Our hero!” | |
| Outside the court there were clashes between Azaria’s supporters – some far-right fans of Beitar football club – and the police. Some supporters chanted death threats against the Israeli army chief, Gadi Eizenkot, insinuating he would face the same fate as Yitzhak Rabin, the former prime minister killed 20 years ago by an ultranationalist Israeli. | |
| Sharif’s father welcomed the verdict, saying: “I feel good. It is fair. This is an achievement of the court that it condemned the soldier.” | |
| There were calls from some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government for an immediate pardon, as the country looked set for a heated debate over whether Azaria deserves clemency. | |
| Leading the calls was the leader of the far right Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett. Describing the trial as politically “contaminated from the beginning”, Bennett said: “Today a soldier who killed a terrorist who deserved to die, who tried to slaughter [another] soldier, was placed in shackles and convicted as a criminal.” | |
| Israel’s divisive culture minister Miri Regev – a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party – said she would also work to win a pardon. “That’s not how you act toward a soldier [who belongs] to all of us,” she said. | |
| However, the defence minister Avigdor Lieberman – who has previously supported Azaria – said that while he “didn’t like the verdict”, Israelis should respect it. | |
| Prosecutors had called for Azaria to be charged with murder but instead settled on a lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Sentencing is expected in about a month. | Prosecutors had called for Azaria to be charged with murder but instead settled on a lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Sentencing is expected in about a month. |
| The shooting on 24 March last year prompted international condemnation after being captured on video by a Palestinian human rights activist. | The shooting on 24 March last year prompted international condemnation after being captured on video by a Palestinian human rights activist. |
| In the footage the wounded Sharif is surrounded by soldiers, medics and settlers. Azaria then appears and unslings a weapon before shooting Sharif in the head. | In the footage the wounded Sharif is surrounded by soldiers, medics and settlers. Azaria then appears and unslings a weapon before shooting Sharif in the head. |
| The discussion at the heart of the case was whether Azaria was justified in killing Sharif. | The discussion at the heart of the case was whether Azaria was justified in killing Sharif. |
| Heller rejected the defence’s two central but contradictory claims, the first suggesting that Sharif was already dead at the time of the shooting, and the second that Azaria felt threatened, telling the court “you can’t have it both ways”. | Heller rejected the defence’s two central but contradictory claims, the first suggesting that Sharif was already dead at the time of the shooting, and the second that Azaria felt threatened, telling the court “you can’t have it both ways”. |
| Prosecutors had argued Azaria’s motive was expressed in comments witnesses said he had made: that Sharif “deserved to die” for wounding a comrade. The court accepted this account, noting that the words carried “serious significance” in its ruling. | Prosecutors had argued Azaria’s motive was expressed in comments witnesses said he had made: that Sharif “deserved to die” for wounding a comrade. The court accepted this account, noting that the words carried “serious significance” in its ruling. |
| Azaria’s defence team said it would appeal the verdict, and a family spokesman said the court had ignored evidence indicating the soldier was innocent. “It was like the court was detached from the fact that this was the area of an attack,” said Sharon Gal. “I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers.” | Azaria’s defence team said it would appeal the verdict, and a family spokesman said the court had ignored evidence indicating the soldier was innocent. “It was like the court was detached from the fact that this was the area of an attack,” said Sharon Gal. “I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers.” |
| Lt Col Nadav Weissman, a military prosecutor, said the verdict was “important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself”. He added: “This is not a happy day for us. We would have preferred that this didn’t happen. But the deed was done, and the offence was severe.” | Lt Col Nadav Weissman, a military prosecutor, said the verdict was “important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself”. He added: “This is not a happy day for us. We would have preferred that this didn’t happen. But the deed was done, and the offence was severe.” |
| The rare case of an active serviceman being charged had been seen as a test of Israeli military justice. | The rare case of an active serviceman being charged had been seen as a test of Israeli military justice. |
| It also exposed deep divisions in Israeli society, not only between left and right, but between the Israeli military’s most senior officers – who pushed for the prosecution – and nationalist political figures, who have campaigned for Azaria’s acquittal. | It also exposed deep divisions in Israeli society, not only between left and right, but between the Israeli military’s most senior officers – who pushed for the prosecution – and nationalist political figures, who have campaigned for Azaria’s acquittal. |
| On Tuesday, however, the Israeli military’s chief of staff pushed back at the most recent campaign slogan of Azaria’s supporters, which claims the soldier was “the child of us all”. | |
| Speaking at a conference in Herziliya, Gen Gadi Eisenkot warned that the attempt to portray Azaria as immature and confused “undermines the most fundamental values that we look for in our soldiers”. | Speaking at a conference in Herziliya, Gen Gadi Eisenkot warned that the attempt to portray Azaria as immature and confused “undermines the most fundamental values that we look for in our soldiers”. |
| Among the acres of commentary in the Israeli media and on social media, perhaps most bizarre was the decision by Makor Rishon’s Profile magazine to declare Azaria one of its men of the year for “sparking the stormiest argument in Israeli society this year”, complete with a cover picture of the accused soldier posing with a gun. | Among the acres of commentary in the Israeli media and on social media, perhaps most bizarre was the decision by Makor Rishon’s Profile magazine to declare Azaria one of its men of the year for “sparking the stormiest argument in Israeli society this year”, complete with a cover picture of the accused soldier posing with a gun. |
| Ahead of Wednesday’s verdict, Yesh Din, a leftwing NGO, released a report pointing to the “exceptionally low” prosecution rate of Israeli soldiers accused of violence by against Palestinians. Examining the 186 criminal investigations into suspected offences against Palestinians in 2015, it said only 21 of those cases generated investigations and that there were only four indictments. | Ahead of Wednesday’s verdict, Yesh Din, a leftwing NGO, released a report pointing to the “exceptionally low” prosecution rate of Israeli soldiers accused of violence by against Palestinians. Examining the 186 criminal investigations into suspected offences against Palestinians in 2015, it said only 21 of those cases generated investigations and that there were only four indictments. |