Netanyahu urges pardon for Israeli soldier who killed wounded Palestinian assailant

A military court in Tel Aviv convicted anIsraeli soldier of manslaughter on Wednesday in thefatalshooting of a wounded Palestinian attacker, who was disarmed and lying incapacitated on the ground, inthe occupied West Bank last March.

Sgt.Elor Azaria, 20,faces a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars, though he is not expected to receive that much time. The military said he would be sentenced on Jan. 15. The defence team said it would appeal.

The verdict which marks an extremely rare case of an Israeli military court siding against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field caps a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country. Defence officials have criticized Azaria's conductwhile large segments of the Israeli public, along with members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him.

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With Azaria's sentencingweeks away, the country now faces a heated debate over whether he deserves clemency. Within minutes of the verdict, leading politicians were already calling for him to be pardoned.

Under Israeli law, the country's largely ceremonial president has the authority to issue a pardon.

Hours after the verdict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Azaria to be pardoned, plunging into the raging political debate that has divided the country and putting himself at odds with the military.

On his Facebook page, Netanyahu wrote: "I support granting Elor Azaria a pardon."

He also urged the public to support the army and its commanders.

Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter

8 years ago

Duration 0:27

Found guilty of killing incapacitated Palestinian assailant

'Disproportionate response'

In delivering the verdict of the three-judge panel, Col. Maya Heller systematically rejected all of Azaria's defence arguments, saying "the fact that the man on the ground was a terrorist does not justify a disproportionate response."

Those arguments included a claim that Abdel Fattah al-Sharif was already dead when Azaria shot him in the head and that he was acting in self-defence, though the man had already been disarmed and was lying on the ground.

"The court said he was a poor witness, they didn't believe him, he changed his story many times and, in the end, there was no objective danger to him," freelance reporter IrrisMakler said from Jerusalem.

The March 24 shooting, and the tense moments leading up to it, werecaptured on video by a Palestinian human rights activist in thecity of Hebron.

Azaria was 19 at the time, and working as an army medic.Al-Sharifand another Palestinian assailant were shotafter attacking and stabbingan Israeli solider manning a military checkpoint in Hebron. Thesecond assailantdied immediately.

The shooting occurred at the height of what has become more than a year-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Soldier's family outraged

Azaria entered the court smiling and appearing confident, and he was embraced by a few dozen relatives and friends. But as the verdict was delivered, he stared gloomily ahead, and tensions quickly boiled over in the cramped, crowded courtroom.

Members of Azaria's family clapped sarcastically as the decision was delivered, some screaming "Our hero!" A female relative was kicked out of the courtroom for screaming at the judges, and a second woman stormed out, shouting, "Disgusting leftists."

After the judges walked out, Azaria's mother, Oshra, screamed, "You should be ashamed of yourselves." Azaria tried to comfort her and calm her as she wailed. Another family member whipped his jacket at a female reporter, missing his target and instead hitting another relative.

Scuffles, violence erupt after Israeli soldier ruling

8 years ago

Duration 0:33

Supporters clash with police after conviction announced

Protests, threats

Hundreds of the soldier's supporters, many of them young religious men wearing skullcaps, gathered outside the military court in Tel Aviv ahead of the verdict. The crowd, holding large Israeli flags and banners, periodically scuffled with police.

Some demonstrators chanted veiled death threats against the Israeli army's chief, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, insinuating he would face the same fate of slain Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated 20 years ago by an ultranationalist Israeli.

"Gadi, Gadi, watch out. Rabin is looking for a friend," the demonstrators chanted. The crowd was quickly dispersed without any further violence.

Lt. Col.NadavWeissman, a military prosecutor,saidthe verdict was "important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself."

Israel's defence minister said he disagreed with the verdict, but called on the public to respect the court's decision.

"Despite the difficult verdict, the defence establishment will do everything it can to assist the soldier and his family," AvigdorLiebermantold reporters.

Al-Sharif's father called the verdict "fair."

"This is an achievement of the court that it condemned the soldier," saidYousrial-Sharif, who watched with his family as the verdict was read on live television.

It took the lead judge almost three hours to deliver the verdict.

"I was exhausted and tense," he said. "I smoked two packs of cigarettes while watching."