Israeli who killed wounded Palestinian is freed early
An Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a prone Palestinian was freed from prison yesterday after serving nine months behind bars – half of his original sentence.
Elor Azaria was jailed for the 2016 killing of Abdul Fatah Al Sharif, who was lying on the ground and unarmed at the time, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
Armed forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot later reduced the term by four months and in March a parole board ordered a further cut, to a total of nine months.
Azaria was released two days ahead of schedule and as word of it spread, small groups of supporters began to visit his home in Ramla near Tel Aviv, including the city’s mayor.
Israeli media said he was freed early from Tzrifim military prison, near Tel Aviv, so he could attend his brother’s wedding. The military confirmed his release but provided no details.
A sign outside Azaria’s home said “welcome back Elor the hero”.
“I’m here to thank all the people of Israel for their support, for their embrace,” his sister Etti Azaria said outside the home, an Israeli flag held up behind her. Like other members of the family, she wore a T-shirt with Azaria’s photo on it.
Education Minister Naftali Bennet, head of the far-right Jewish Home party, tweeted his congratulations to Azaria along with a picture of the family. He wrote: “It’s good to have you home.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had called for the former soldier to receive a presidential pardon, said he was “happy that the affair is over”.
But the release drew further anger from Palestinians, who said his sentence was outrageously short. The mother of the Palestinian killed by Azaria spoke of her resignation.
“There is nothing we can do,” Rajaa Al Sharif said at her home in Hebron. “This is something natural for them.”
Azaria, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, began his sentence on August 9. Prisoners in Israel often have their sentences cut by a third for good behaviour.
The shooting was caught on video by a human rights group and spread widely online.
It showed Sharif, 21, lying wounded on the ground having been shot with another Palestinian after the army claimed they had stabbed a soldier.
About 11 minutes after the initial shooting, Azaria, a sergeant and military medic at the time, shot him in the head without any apparent provocation.
He said he feared Sharif was wearing an explosive belt and could blow himself up, a claim judges rejected.
The trial captivated Israel and highlighted deep divisions in public opinion between those who denounced the shooting and others who said it was justified.
Senior army officers strongly denounced Azaria’s action but right-wing politicians, including Mr Netanyahu, called for him to be pardoned.
Comparisons have been drawn with sentences handed out to Palestinians for lesser crimes.
Those critical of Azaria’s sentence have in particular pointed to the jail term of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi.
She was sentenced to eight months in prison in a plea deal after a video that went viral showed Tamimi, 16 at the time, slapping two Israeli soldiers in the yard of her West Bank home in December.