Israeli President Isaac Herzog has granted a pardon to a former soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in 2016.
The Israeli occupation army had shot Palestinian Abdul Fattah al-Sharif and left him lying wounded on the ground after claiming that he had attacked one of its soldiers. Al-Sharif remained bleeding for 11 minutes before Elor Azaria shot him in the head, killing him.
During his trial, Azaria said he had acted because he feared al-Sharif might be wearing an explosive belt and could detonate it. The court rejected his argument.
Azaria was convicted of manslaughter in 2017 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was released in May 2018 after serving half of his sentence, in a case that attracted widespread attention in Israel.
In his first interview after his release, Azaria said at the time: “I would have acted in exactly the same way, because that was what I had to do.”
Herzog decided to “grant Elor Azaria’s request and cancel the remaining period of his criminal record so that he can continue his life”, according to a statement issued by the president’s office on Saturday. The decision effectively clears Azaria’s criminal record.
The statement said that “President Herzog decided that the circumstances, the time that has passed and the feelings of remorse expressed by Azaria justify allowing him to open a new chapter in his life”.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir welcomed the pardon on Saturday, writing on X: “For someone like me, who demonstrated a decade ago for Elor Azaria, the erasure of the criminal record of someone who eliminated a terrorist affects me and makes me very happy.”
He added: “This precedent should never have been entered into the criminal record in the first place, had the rules of engagement been different.”
Ben-Gvir also called on Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing trial on corruption charges.
