Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has pardoned former combat medic Elor Azaria, who was convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a badly wounded Palestinian attacker in the occupied West Bank nearly a decade ago.
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According to the Associated Press, Azaria had shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the head as he lay unarmed and badly injured on the ground in Hebron after stabbing an Israeli soldier. The incident, captured on a cellphone video, sparked intense debate in Israel.
Azaria was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence. In his first interview after his release, Azaria said he would act in the same way again, saying that was how he “needed to act.”
Herzog’s office said the president granted the pardon following a recommendation from Defence Minister Israel Katz. The decision took into account the time that had passed since the incident and the approaching Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, among other factors.
Katz called the pardon a “right, humane, and fitting decision” and said Azaria had been involved in a “complex operational mission”. However, Israel’s military chief, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, had reportedly opposed the pardon, Israeli media reported.
Case that divided Israel
Azaria’s conviction was a rare instance of an Israeli military court finding a soldier guilty over deadly action taken in the field. Top military commanders had pushed for his prosecution, while many Israelis backed Azaria amid a wave of Palestinian stabbing and vehicle attacks at the time.
The case also drew political pressure, with some supporters protesting outside the trial. Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called for Azaria to be pardoned after his conviction.
Israel’s hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir welcomed the latest decision, saying he was “very happy” that the criminal record of someone who killed a terrorist had been cancelled.
Some Palestinians and human rights groups had criticised Azaria’s sentence as too lenient, while prosecutors had sought a longer prison term. Herzog’s office said the pardon did not amount to a reassessment of the case.
