Sgt. Elor Azaria Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison For Killing Terrorist

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Unfortunately, justice did not prevail, but it could have been worse.

Sgt. Elor Azaria was sentenced today to a year and a half in prison at his sentencing hearing at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv, where a special military court decided the fate of the soldier, who was found guilty of manslaughter in January for shooting an incapacitated terrorist in Chevron last year.

According to a Channel 2 report before the sentencing, military prosecutors were expected to demand a 3-5 year sentence. In fact, Azaria’s mother, Oshra, collapsed when she heard the report and needed medical evaluation.

Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of twenty years.

Ynet reports that the presiding judge, Col. Maya Heller, said, “The defendant shot a terrorist without any justification. The only value that was harmed by the defendant’s actions was the value of life. Azaria also defiled the purity of arms which is upheld by the IDF… There are a number of mitigating circumstances that required consideration, including a complicated area where terrorists attempted to kill soldiers and even managed to injure one.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu and other politicians had called for his pardon by President Reuven Rivlin or IDF General of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot.

Azaria will begin his serving his 18-month sentence on March 5, when he must report to Prison Six in northern Israel.

A survey presented to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee indicated a deterioration of soldiers’ confidence in their commanders since Azaria’s attack and prosecution, with only 41% of combat soldiers and 51% of regular soldiers relying on a commander to support them if they err in the course of their duties.

A survey conducted by the Institute for National Security Studies found that 73% of Israelis feel that the IDF leadership convicted Azaria in the media before the trial began.

The sentencing today brings to a close a trial and national saga that lasted almost a year and threw the debate of the IDF’s combat morals and its soldiers into the public conversation.

 

{Matzav.com Israel News}


8 COMMENTS

  1. Yet ISIS can behead anyone.

    Palestinian TERRORISTS let freed.

    I believe all terrorist should be killed. Whether they are armed or NOT.

    Shame on you Israel. You’re teaching the enemy 1 thing and 1 thing only, if you try and kill someone, as long as you drop the weapon you’re allowed to live.

    Israel. That’s not the way to go.

  2. I have zero sympathy for the dead terrorist and am quite content that he will never have another opportunity to try to murder Jews. I also wish that there had been no video of Sgt. Elor Azaria shooting the terrorist, which was the reason he was convicted.

    That said, Israel had no choice in trying Sgt. Azaria for the terrorist’s death. I saw the video and the terrorist was clearly neutralized and not a threat to anyone at the time he was shot. While we may not have a moral problem with the extrajudicial execution of terrorists, it’s illegal in Israel, the U.S. and any other democracy. In the U.S, Jack Ruby was imprisoned and Pee Wee Gaskins was executed for killing murderers who well deserved what they got. So too Israel can’t allow even terrorists to be executed extrajudicially. Furthermore, his action hurt the Israeli military’s moral standing and contravened his military training. There were mitigating factors, as noted by the judge, so at least Sgt. Azaria’s sentence is relatively light.

    I hope his time in prison passes quickly, but his conviction was not a miscarriage of justice and the Israeli army and judiciary did nothing wrong.

  3. Sgt. Elor Azaria: Congratulations to you for helping your brothers and sisters in Israel by killing this terrorist!! It’s a real pity on the judge that did a terrible miscarriage of justice to you, dear brother soldier, and increased acts of terrorism in Israel!!!!!! And to the world at large!!!!!!
    Heshem will definitely reward you for your courageous and Mesiras Nefesh act!!!

  4. This is a travesty.

    Who knows how many innocent people Elor saved by killing the terrorist?

    Because the terrorist is dead, he will, for example, never become eligible for any of those despicable prisoner exchanges in which the Israeli government likes to engage.

    There is no need for Israel to kiss up to world opinion, especially at the expense of its own citizens.
    (And catering to world opinion hasn’t been shown to work anyway.)

    If the judicial powers and government officials actually believed in Hashem, they wouldn’t have done this. terrible thing to Elor and his family…and to us.

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