Right-wing lawmakers on Wednesday expressed support for former IDF soldier Elor Azaria, who spent nine months in jail after killing an incapacitated terrorist in Hebron two years ago, saying the military system had failed him.
In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, Azaria recounted the fateful 2016 incident and insisted that he did the right thing and felt no remorse.
"There is no doubt that if you took me back to those seconds in Hebron, when the event was unfolding, I would act exactly the same all over again, because that is what had to be done," Azaria said.
Azaria was convicted of manslaughter and conduct unbecoming and was released from prison three months ago after serving nine months of his 14-month sentence.
After excerpts of the interview were published on Wednesday, Likud MK Anat Berko said the IDF, and especially the military judiciary, should review their procedures in light of the Azaria case.
"Even if he erred, Elor Azaria is our soldier – you can't forget that. He is a soldier who engaged in life-threatening combat service, risking his life for this country. Unfortunately, even if he made a mistake, they [the IDF] rushed to judgment and failed to support him and his family when their world collapsed," she said.
Berko, herself a retired lieutenant colonel, said, "As a commander, when I presided over [disciplinary] hearings, I would always tell the soldiers, 'Even if you made a mistake, I'm your commander and I will be there for you.' The military has to review its own procedures, regardless of the operational findings or verdict in this case. It has to focus on commanders' basic commitment to soldiers."
Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Yogev, a retired colonel, said that "as a retired senior military commander – and from my own personal experience with cases in which a terrorist who was lying on the ground detonated an explosive device and injured civilians and soldiers – I can understand how Azaria felt.
"You can't really judge this feeling, especially when you consider the terrorist [in this case] was wearing a thick coat on a hot day. Even if he [Azaria] broke from the acceptable norms, he should have been questioned by senior commanders and if they had found he should have been penalized, it should have been done as part of a disciplinary hearing, not as part of a judicial system external to the operational-command framework."
Yogev added, "We have the responsibility, as senior commanders, to fully investigate but also to offer soldiers our absolute support, even if they erred from an operational standpoint."
Kulanu MK Yifat Shasha-Biton said she believes the entire case was "fundamentally distorted" from day one.
"The fact that senior government officials rushed to give court martial-style media statements, and the crude manner in which some exploited the case, using it as a political battering ram, undermined the [IDF's] ability to properly investigate this case and stirred public emotions," she said.
"The most serious thing, however, is that this affair reflects on our soldiers and may influence their judgment in complex situations."
Likud MK Nava Boker said, "Azaria was an outstanding soldier who exercised his judgment at the scene and shot a terrorist who tried to murder his comrades, not an innocent bystander."
Commenting on Azaria's assertion that the military threw him "under the bus," Likud MK Amir Ohana said, "Under these special circumstances, when we're talking about an outstanding soldier on the one hand and a dead terrorist who just stabbed another soldier on the other hand, Elor's feelings are justified."
But not everyone rushed to express support for Azaria.
"The Azaria affair is a very painful one," said Shas MK Michael Malchieli. "There is no need to reopen it just to generate headlines."
Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai said that "in the Azaria case, the military judiciary acted exactly as it should."
