An Israeli military court of appeals upheld on Sunday the manslaughter conviction and 18-month prison sentence for Elor Azaria the Israeli soldier convicted of shooting a downed Palestinian protester.
According to Hebrew-speaking media the panel of judges handed down the ruling which took more than two hours to read out.
The judges rejected the defense’s arguments and new information in its request to overturn the conviction saying in the ruling that Azaria’s “manner was more suitable for a shooting range than the scene of a terror attack.” The judges also noted that Azaria never expressed remorse for his actions.
The judges also upheld the 18-month prison sentence which the prosecution appealed saying it was too lenient.
Azaria came on the scene following an alleged anti-occupation stabbing in al-Khalil in the southern West Bank on March 24 2016 by Abdel Fattah al-Sharif. The latter was shot while lying on the ground. Azaria shot him in the head in a shooting that was captured on video by a local resident for the Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem.
Azaria was arrested the same day and indicted nearly a month later. Autopsy reports showed that the shots by Azaria killed Sharif.
Following the appeals court verdict several Israeli government ministers called for Azaria to be pardoned including Army Minister Avigdor Lieberman Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Sport and Culture Minister Miri Regev.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also supported a pardon for Azaria as he did in January following the original verdict. In a tweet following the verdict Netanyahu wrote: “My opinion has not changed on the question of granting a pardon to Elor Azaria as I expressed it after the conviction in January. When the subject comes up during pardon deliberations I will offer my recommendation for a pardon to the relevant authorities.”
In their ruling the appeals court rejected Azaria’s testimony as untrustworthy and found that he had shot the Palestinian from a desire for vengeance.
The conviction of the soldier has done little to assuage the anger of Palestinians over the case many of whom have pointed to the 18-month sentence as far less than the mandatory minimum sentence for Palestinians who throw stones.
