Israel’s president pardons soldier who killed wounded Palestinian in 2016

Elor Azaria had shot a Palestinian who had already been incapacitated by Israeli troops, in controversial case.Israeli President Isaac Herzog has expunged the criminal record of a former soldier convicted of manslaughter for killing a wounded Palestinian in Hebron a decade ago.Herzog announced on Saturday that he had shortened the remaining erasure period on Elor Azaria’s record, effectively clearing it despite opposition from Israeli army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Anger erupts over video of Palestinian shot by Israeli sniperlist 2 of 3Israeli soldier filmed killing Palestinian released from prisonlist 3 of 3Slain Palestinian’s family not surprised by unrepentant Azariaend of listThe military had opposed the move.In a letter to the defence minister, Zamir and other senior officers said Azaria “has refrained from expressing remorse and taking responsibility for his actions, even a decade after his conviction”.The president’s office said it had taken the military’s position into account but decided the circumstances justified allowing Azaria to “open a new chapter in his life”.Azaria, an army medic at the time, was filmed shooting Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the head in March 2016.Al-Sharif had stabbed and wounded a soldier but had already been shot by Israeli troops and had lain on the ground for about 11 minutes before Azaria killed him.Azaria was convicted by a military court in 2017 and sentenced to 18 months in prison, later reduced to 14 months. He was released in May 2018 after serving nine months.Herzog’s office said the decision followed a request from Defence Minister Israel-katz" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="4249" data-entity-type="person">Israel Katz in July and was based on “the passage of time, the completion of his sentence, and the remorse he has expressed”.The statement added that the pardon was issued “in the spirit” of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, and did not challenge the original legal proceedings.