Court avoids murder conviction for Palestinian involved in officer’s killing

The Judea Military Court ruled Wednesday to convict a Palestinian involved in the 2016 killing of Israeli Air Force reserve officer Eliav Gelman of manslaughter, not murder.

The panel of judges voted 2-1 to acquit Mamduh Amru of “intentionally causing death” — the equivalent of murder under military law — after concluding that there was no way to prove that Amru had arrived at the Gush Etzion Junction nearly three years ago with the intent to kill.

Amru, a 28-year-old resident of Dura near Hebron, had told interrogators that he charged at Gelman with a knife because he wanted to commit suicide.

Gelman was hit by errant IDF gunfire aimed at Amro and succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter. The 30-year-old father of two had been on his way home to the nearby settlement of Karmei Tzur from his Air Force base, where he had been on reserve duty.

Gelman’s family blasted the court’s decision, demanding that Amro be given the death penalty.

“We demand the death penalty for this terrorist… Every cursed (killer) must know what the verdict will be for harming a Jew,” they said in a statement.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman similarly criticized the ruling, asserting that “a terrorist who runs with a knife in order to murder soldiers and civilians should be convicted of murder.

“There is no other logic than this, and I am sure that it will be that way in the end,” Liberman added, suggesting that the issue will be addressed by his office.

Haim Bleicher, an attorney from the Honenu legal aid group representing the Gelman family, slammed as “unacceptable” the court’s “search for the psychological state” of an attacker who is “part of the terrorism seeking to wipe out Israelis.”