Israeli Soldier Gets 18 Months Jail for Killing Wounded Palestinian Attacker

An Israeli soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian attacker in a high-profile case that split opinion across the country has been jailed for 18 months.

Elor Azaria was found guilty of manslaughter for shooting dead 21-year-old Abdul Fatah al Sharif in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, last March. Azaria had told a colleague that Sharif, who had stabbed another soldier, “deserved to die”. Military chiefs condemned his actions, but others praised them. The case fuelled debate in Israel over when and how soldiers are entitled to use lethal force against attackers. The shooting occurred amid a wave of attacks by Palestinians that had killed 29 Israelis over the preceding five months.

The offence carries a sentence of up to 20 years, though prosecutors had called for Azaria to be jailed for between three and five years.

Azaria, who was also ordered demoted from his rank of sergeant, sat smiling broadly, embraced by his mother, as the judgment was read out, says our correspondent.

The judge, Maya Heller, said his crime was mitigated by the fact that it was his first conviction, that it had occurred in an active military scene and that there had been no clear orders as to how he was supposed to act. Judge Heller noted that Azaria had not displayed any remorse for what he had done.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority criticised the sentence as lenient, calling it a “green light to the occupation army to continue its crimes”, AFP news agency reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said he would support any decision to pardon the soldier.

The killing received widespread coverage after footage of the incident, filmed on a mobile phone, was shown on Israeli news programmes.

It showed Azaria cocking his gun and firing at the head of Sharif, who was lying apparently incapacitated on the ground after being shot and wounded following the stabbing attack.