Israeli court upholds jail term for ex-soldier in Hebron shooting

[webfact]

Israeli court upholds jail term for ex-soldier in Hebron shooting

By Rami Amichai

 

Former Israeli soldier Elor Azaria (C), who was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for killing a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant, waits to hear the ruling at an Israeli military appeals court in Tel Aviv, Israel July 30, 2017. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool

 

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - An Israeli military appeal court upheld a manslaughter conviction and 18-month jail sentence on Sunday for a former army conscript who killed an incapacitated Palestinian assailant in the occupied West Bank.

 

In one of the most divisive trials in the Israel's history, the panel of judges, including field generals, rejected challenges lodged by Elor Azaria, who says he had acted in line with defence doctrines.

 

"Values have been greatly damaged by the defendant's actions," the chief judge, Major-General Doron Feiles, said in reading out the ruling. "This was a forbidden and immoral act."

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, said the ex-soldier should be pardoned.

 

In March 2015, Azaria was serving as an army medic in the town of Hebron in the occupied West Bank when two Palestinians stabbed and wounded another soldier. One of the assailants was shot dead by troops. The other was shot and wounded.

 

Eleven minutes later, as the wounded man, Abd Elfatah Ashareef, 21, lay on the ground unable to move, Azaria, then 19, took aim with his rifle and fatally shot him in the head. The incident was captured on video by a Palestinian rights activist.

 

Azaria became a cause celebre, backed by right-wingers in Israel, where most Jewish men and women are drafted at 18 for military service. One poll found that nearly half of the Jewish majority believed any Palestinian attacker should be killed on the spot.

 

The Palestinian government said the 18-month jail term had given Israeli soldiers a "green light" to kill with impunity. The appeals court rejected an application by military prosecutors to increase the sentence to between three and five years. Under Israeli law, manslaughter can carry a maximum 20-year-sentence.

 

Human Rights Watch cautiously welcomed Sunday's ruling.

 

"Upholding the conviction of a soldier convicted of fatally shooting a man who posed no threat sends an important message about restrictions on lethal use of force," said Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy director for the rights group.

 

As Azaria arrived, dressed in a white T-shirt, in the court at the Defence Ministry complex in Tel Aviv, his supporters demonstrated outside. His mother draped herself in the Israeli flag.

 

Since his arrested for the Hebron shooting, Azaria was confined to his base for months and, on discharge from the military two weeks ago, was placed under house arrest.

 

Defence lawyers had suggested that, should their appeals fail, they could take the case to the Supreme Court or ask the president, Reuven Rivlin, to pardon Azaria.

 

But Rivlin and Lieberman, the defence minister, urged the Azaria family to ask Israel's top general, Gadi Eizenkot, for a pardon instead.

 

"I have no doubt that the chief of staff will take all of the difficult circumstances, and the fact that he (Azaria) was an exemplary soldier, into consideration," Lieberman tweeted.

 

Netanyahu tweeted: "I will relay my recommendation for a pardon to the relevant parties when the matter comes up for meaningful discussion."

 

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-31

[canopus1969]

18 months for murder 

[Elfin]

Pardon me but give this butcher Azaria a pardon? Only in Israel..............

[swanny321]

    Give him a cell in the King David Hotel.

[bandito]

Pray tell, how did the Palestinian terrorist get wounded?

Like he tried to murder an Israeli?

So he got what was coming.

Azaria should never have been prosecuted.

He was a soldier and that's what soldiers learn to do.

Defend the Motherland with any means.

So he did what was expected of him.

Azaria, mazzel tov!

[Morch]

10 hours ago, Elfin said:

Pardon me but give this butcher Azaria a pardon? Only in Israel..............

 

Tripe.

 

He wasn't given a pardon, but rather his appeal was rejected. And as for the expected predictions, may want to go back to previous topics and previous views aired - that he wouldn't be put on trial, that he's be found not guilty, that he'd be pardoned right away, that the appeal will be successful. Didn't quite work out this way.

 

As for "only in Israel" - so no soldiers of other armies, acting illegally in other conflicts were shown leniency for political (or whatever) reasons? Globally, all soldiers acting illegally have relevant laws strictly applied?

 

And last and not least - "butcher". Rhetoric always gets ramped  is it fits views. Not much of that from you on opposite occasions.

 

[Morch]

3 hours ago, bandito said:

Pray tell, how did the Palestinian terrorist get wounded?

Like he tried to murder an Israeli?

So he got what was coming.

Azaria should never have been prosecuted.

He was a soldier and that's what soldiers learn to do.

Defend the Motherland with any means.

So he did what was expected of him.

Azaria, mazzel tov!

 

The Palestinian tried to stab a soldier. Without condoning the attack, defining it as terrorism is a matter of perspective or politics. And, of course, carrying such an attack comes with probably consequences.

 

That said, Azaria shot him when there was no threat, and it was not his call to decide the Palestinian's fate. Israeli military courts and high command made their views clear on that.

 

Soldiers are not tasked with shooting people under such circumstances, Azaria wasn't defending any motherland by his actions and these weren't "expected" of him.

[VillageIdiot]

The photo alone is enough to prejudice the case against this guy.

It looks like he comes from a Middle Eastern equivalent of the Addams Family.

[bandito]

On ‎8‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 0:10 PM, Morch said:

 

The Palestinian tried to stab a soldier. Without condoning the attack, defining it as terrorism is a matter of perspective or politics. And, of course, carrying such an attack comes with probably consequences.

 

That said, Azaria shot him when there was no threat, and it was not his call to decide the Palestinian's fate. Israeli military courts and high command made their views clear on that.

 

Soldiers are not tasked with shooting people under such circumstances, Azaria wasn't defending any motherland by his actions and these weren't "expected" of him.

Exactly, tried to stab a soldier.

No threat?

The f..... still had his knife on him and would have used it if taken care of.

Well, he got taken care of.

[dexterm]

On 8/1/2017 at 8:49 AM, bandito said:

Pray tell, how did the Palestinian terrorist get wounded?

Like he tried to murder an Israeli?

So he got what was coming.

Azaria should never have been prosecuted.

He was a soldier and that's what soldiers learn to do.

Defend the Motherland with any means.

So he did what was expected of him.

Azaria, mazzel tov!

The Palestinian murdered in cold blood while unarmed and incapacitated 10 minutes after the original incident, was shot by a member of an illegally occupying army. The Palestinian Abd Elfatah Ashareef was legally entitled to resist occupation by foreign invaders.

 

Azaria's actions were a war crime and contrary to the IDF's and every civilized country's own rules of engagement. He was tried fairly by his military peers and every one of his excuses and rationalizations was investigated and dismissed. The psychopath Azaria simply wanted to kill someone.

 

If Azaria is allowed to ignore the Geneva Convention, then the Israeli army simply descends into state terrorism, no better than any other state terrorists that have existed in history.

 

If Pres Rivlin now pardons him, it will send the wrong message to the IDF and Palestinians.

 

At the end of the day, all he got was a relative slap on the wrist compared with the hundreds of Palestinian children as young as 12 held in Israel jails, lucky that they weren't shot dead by the IDF for throwing stones.

Edited August 3, 2017 by dexterm

[Morch]

5 hours ago, bandito said:

Exactly, tried to stab a soldier.

No threat?

The f..... still had his knife on him and would have used it if taken care of.

Well, he got taken care of.

 

He presented no threat at the time Azaria shot him. He was already wounded, on the floor, knife kicked away.

If you wish to reconstruct an "alternative" account of facts, take it up with the Israeli military courts, watch the video clips again or read testimony transcripts.

[bandito]

18 hours ago, Morch said:

 

He presented no threat at the time Azaria shot him. He was already wounded, on the floor, knife kicked away.

If you wish to reconstruct an "alternative" account of facts, take it up with the Israeli military courts, watch the video clips again or read testimony transcripts.

 

He tried to murder Israeliers.

Because he got lucky and only got wounded (his mate got shot dead, luckily) that makes him no threat?

He was a murderer and got what was coming to him.

Most of Israel backs Azaria and the Prime Minister will do everything possible to get him a pardon.

About Azaria? I would have done the same.

You don't get it, huh?

And it is you who are twisting the facts.

[Morch]

4 hours ago, bandito said:

 

He tried to murder Israeliers.

Because he got lucky and only got wounded (his mate got shot dead, luckily) that makes him no threat?

He was a murderer and got what was coming to him.

Most of Israel backs Azaria and the Prime Minister will do everything possible to get him a pardon.

About Azaria? I would have done the same.

You don't get it, huh?

And it is you who are twisting the facts.

 

At the time Azaria shot him, the attack was over, the Palestinian was wounded, unarmed and lying on the ground. There were many soldiers around, and yet none of them shot the Palestinian for 11 minutes - that's when Azaria arrived on the scene. So no, at the time of the shooting, the Palestinian was not a threat.

 

That your ideas of law, order and justice seem to favor summary extrajudicial killings, does not reflect how most legal systems deal with things.

 

It is indeed regrettable that Israeli public opinion is what it is, and that Israel's prime minister is who and what he is. Obviously, some connections between the two.

 

Do point to even one fact I "twisted". That you do not wish to accept the verdict, does not alter the facts.