Herzog pardons soldier who killed subdued Palestinian stabber in 2016, against IDF position

President Isaac Herzog said Saturday evening that he had granted a pardon to Elor Azaria, a former IDF soldier convicted of killing an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2016, after the military opposed giving the pardon.

Azaria served nine months of an 18-month prison term for killing Abdel-Fattah al-Sharif, a Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2016. Azaria killed a prone al-Sharif some 11 minutes after he had been shot and subdued.

The incident exposed deep rifts in Israeli society over the army’s activities in the West Bank, with some — mostly on the right — arguing that Azaria had behaved heroically in killing the Palestinian assailant, while others said he had broken the law and deserved a harsher sentence than he received.

Azaria has repeatedly insisted he behaved correctly in the shooting, and he has gone on to protest in support of soldiers accused of beating Palestinian suspects.

Azaria filed a request in July to shorten the time before his criminal record is automatically cleared, as this record currently poses employment hindrances. Defense Minister Israel Katz supported what amounted to a pardon request.

Before Herzog’s decision, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top officers told the defense minister in a letter that they did not support the request, although they never submitted their position on a pardon to the president.

The president’s office, in a statement, said that Herzog had decided to grant Azaria’s request to shorten the time before his criminal record is automatically cleared, which, according to the law, would have taken place in 2032 if it were not expedited.

The shortening of the criminal record takes effect immediately.

The pardon, however, doesn’t lift the sanctions former US president Joe Biden’s administration imposed on Azaria in 2024, which include a US entry ban for him and his immediate family.

In a comment to the right-wing, pro-government Channel 14, Azaria thanked Herzog, Katz, God and the Israeli nation, as well as his family and attorney.

“A blessed week. Thank God we have reached this moment,” he said, according to the report, adding in a call with Katz that “it is important that no fighter goes through what I went through.”

The President’s Office said Herzog had examined all circumstances and considerations relating to Azaria’s request, including that “the statute of limitations on the crime committed has long passed” and “the significant period of time that has passed since the incident, the fact that Azaria served the sentence imposed upon him, personal and family circumstances that have changed during the years, and his express wish to remove the obstacles to employment and start a new chapter in life.”

The statement noted that “Azaria stated clearly that he respects the ethical code of the IDF and that it is of importance to him, and that today, as a father of two small children, he wishes to educate them in accordance with these values.

“In his request, he expressed his sorrow, including with regard to the grave consequences of the incident. It is noted that in his first request to President [Reuven] Rivlin, he acknowledged that, in retrospect alone, the shot fired was an operational error, and in retrospect he would not have carried it out,” the president’s office said.

“In the spirit of the upcoming Day of Atonement and after many years living with the consequences of his actions, President Herzog has decided that the circumstances, the length of time that passed, and the sorrow Azaria has expressed justify enabling him to be allowed to begin a new chapter in his life.”

“President Herzog affirms that his decision does not undermine or invalidate the legal proceedings that were carried out in this case and does not constitute a reassessment of the case. President Herzog sees the role of the IDF military justice system as an essential part of upholding the law, the ethical code of the IDF, and the principle and enforcement of the purity of arms. The president underlines that the institution of pardons is one of compassion, and not a court of appeals. In his request, Azaria himself stated that he does not intend to reopen the case,” the statement added.

In July 2024, the Biden administration sanctioned Azaria as part of a broader effort to promote accountability for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank — a push that was undone by US President Donald Trump at the start of his second term.

However, Azaria was designated under a separate 2020 law that directs the secretary of state to impose a visa ban on foreign government officials who have committed gross violations of human rights. That designation has not been reversed by Trump.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.