Family of soldier suspected of murder decries public ‘lynching’

The family of an IDF soldier suspected of murder in the shooting of a disarmed Palestinian assailant earlier this week has decried his “lynching” in the media and the public arena and said Israeli leaders were too quick to judge him before he even had an opportunity to defend himself.

Meanwhile Channel 2 news reported that the soldier had expressed far-right views in the past, including posting a statement in support of slain extremist rabbi Meir Kahane.

At a press conference at the family’s home in Ramla in central Israel, the soldier’s sister, who had earlier in the day accused Israeli leaders of stabbing her brother in the back, said he was being subjected to a public court-martial.

“All that’s left is to execute him,” she said. “From the moment the video was publicized he has become an enemy of the state in the eyes of the IDF spokesperson, the chief of staff, the defense minister and the prime minister.

“He is being vilified and given grave and terrible titles, his fate is being sealed and he can’t speak up,” she said. “I am asking, begging: Stop for a moment…why are you killing him without a trial? Why haven’t you given him one moment to explain?”

She accused some in the media of “lynching him live on the air” and steamrolling her brother “into dust.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he “trusts the IDF to carry out a comprehensive, responsible and fair probe, as it always does,” into the soldier’s actions.

At a military base where the soldier was being held, several dozen people demonstrated in support of his actions, Channel 2 reported. Some held placards hailing the soldier as a “Hero of Israel,” while others quoted a saying from the Jewish Gemara: “If a man rises to kill you, kill him first.”

Channel 2 news also reported on several Facebook posts which the soldier had made in the past. In one post from 2014, following the kidnapping and murder of three children in the West Bank, he wrote: “Kahane was right” — a slogan used by supporters of the assassinated ultra-nationalist politician who proposed expelling Arabs from Israel, and whose Kach party was banned from the Knesset for racism.

In another post the soldier congratulated soccer team Beitar Jerusalem for a victory over Arab team Bnei Sakhnin, thanking the team for “the victory over the Ishmaelites” — a derogatory term for Arabs.

A preliminary probe by the IDF’s Central Command has indicated that the soldier had no apparent reason to open fire at the neutralized assailant, an Army Radio report said Saturday.

Central Command head Maj.-Gen. Roni Numa said in his findings that the soldier had not been at the scene during the initial incident, arriving there several minutes later. He opened fire at the wounded assailant without the knowledge or consent of his superiors.

On Friday, the Jaffa Military Court extended the soldier’s remand until Tuesday. Military investigators told a judge that the soldier was suspected of murder, Channel 2 reported. However, the network stressed that the road from suspicions to actual murder charges was a long one.

Earlier on Saturday the soldier’s sister railed at Israeli leaders in a Facebook post, saying they had stabbed her brother in the back.

“My little brother shot a terrorist who came with a knife to kill IDF soldiers in Hebron, and suddenly my younger brother is suspected of murder in our state of Israel, by our Military Prosecution,” she wrote. She called it “absurd” that her brother was blamed “for killing a terrorist who came to murder.”

She blamed “two senior politicians,” presumably Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, for “hurrying to decide his fate” before investigators had even finished their work in the field. “Those politicians abandoned my little brother,” she charged in her post. “I feel like he was their pawn on the battlefield and the moment something happened they bolted.”

In the graphic video, the solider was filmed shooting the Palestinian shortly after the latter had stabbed another soldier. When the soldier shot him, the Palestinian had already been lying on the ground wounded for around 6 minutes, as a result of troop gunfire during the stabbing.

The Palestinian was one of two stabbers who attacked troops near the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in Hebron, wounding one soldier. The two assailants were shot. One was killed on the spot, while the other was killed in the incident being investigated.

In the video, the soldier can be seen cocking his weapon and approaching the wounded man. He is partially blocked from view by other members of his unit when the shot is fired. However, the impact of the bullet can be seen. The Palestinian man can then be seen bleeding from the head.

(Video contains graphic images)

The soldier, from the Kfir Brigade, confirmed to court Friday that he had carried out the shooting, and repeated his earlier statement that he believed the Palestinian had been wearing an explosive vest and therefore posed an ongoing danger.

The soldier’s lawyer, Eyal Beserglick, also said that his client had acted out of the belief that the Palestinian had an explosive device.

On Friday, supporters of the soldier posted a video online of the moments before the shooting, which they said showed the soldier’s stated concerns were reasonable. In the video, rescue crews are shown moments before the shooting, with the conversation clearly focused on the possibility that the stabber continued to constitute a threat to those around him.

And yet, the original video clearly shows many soldiers and medical officials milling around the wounded assailant in the moments before the shooting, with no indication that they were concerned over such a possibility.

Israel has come under criticism from Europe and the United States for allegedly using excessive force in stopping Palestinian terrorists. The Palestinian Authority and some countries, notably Sweden, have accused Israel of extra-judicial executions — something Israel has vigorously denied..