Israeli president overrules military to pardon soldier who killed incapacitated Palestinian attacker

By Oren Liebermann, Dana Karni, CNN

(CNN) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog pardoned a soldier who shot and killed an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the occupied West Bank in 2016, despite opposition from the military’s chief of staff.

Announcing the move on Saturday, Herzog said the decision would allow Elor Azaria, who was in his mandatory military service at the time of the incident, to “continue with his life.” The decision expunges Azaria’s criminal record.

The case divided Israeli society as it risked politicizing the military – even playing a role in the resignation of then-Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – with many on the right-wing, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for Azaria to receive a pardon.

But the Israeli military made clear at the time that it viewed the shooting as a “grave breach of IDF values, conduct and standards of military operations.” Video of the incident showed Azaria, then serving as a combat medic, approaching a Palestinian man, suspected in a knife attack, before shooting him in the head as he lay injured on the street.

In a statement on X, Ya’alon blasted the decision to issue the pardon. “The soldier did not claim to have shot the terrorist because he felt his life was in danger, but ‘because he deserved to die,’” Ya’alon said. Addressing Herzog directly, he said, “You decided to erase the criminal record without hearing from the soldier he takes responsibility or regrets his actions.”

Herzog, who issued the statement on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, said the “circumstances, the length of time passed, and the sorrow Azaria expressed justify enabling him to be allowed to begin a new chapter in his life.”

Azaria was sentenced to 18 months in prison for killing Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who was one of two men accused of stabbing another Israeli soldier in Hebron. Azaria faced up to 20 years in prison after he was convicted; critics said the shorter sentence amounted to a slap on the wrist. He ultimately served only nine months before he was released.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not issue a statement after the pardon. But in a July letter in response to the pardon request, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said “the request should not be granted.”

In direct contradiction to Herzog, Zamir’s office stated that Azaria had never expressed sorrow or remorse about the killing. Zamir opposed the pardon because Azaria had not taken responsibility for his actions, and there were no “specific personal circumstances of significant weight” that warranted a pardon.

Defense Minister Israel Katz celebrated the pardon, calling it a “humane and appropriate decision.” He said in a statement the “time has come to allow (Azaria) to put the past behind him, rebuild his life and his future.”

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