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Military ‎'rushed to judge' Hebron shooter, lawmakers say

by  Gideon Allon and Mati Tuchfeld
Published on  08-30-2018 00:00
Last modified: 05-03-2021 12:53
Military ‎'rushed to judge' Hebron shooter, lawmakers say

Elor Azaria ‎with his parents

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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." ‎

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