IDF soldier charged with reckless homicide over killing of comrade in January

A soldier was charged on Monday with reckless homicide for the killing of a comrade on an army base near Jerusalem earlier this year.

The Israel Defense Forces said the Military Police soldier, ranked private, “carried out an action with his gun” that resulted in the death of Cpl. Baruch Kabarta on the night of January 2.

In the indictment, the soldier was also charged with obstruction of justice after he allegedly tried to dissuade another soldier from providing details about the shooting.

The suspect, who was detained shortly after the incident, will remain in custody until at least May 1 during the ongoing trial. Prosecutors and the soldier’s defense team will enter a mediation process during the coming weeks.

Kabarta was shot dead due to a suspected accidental discharge from a weapon at the Anatot Base on the outskirts of East Jerusalem at around midnight between January 2 and 3.

He was declared dead at the scene following resuscitation efforts.

Kabarta, 19, from the central city of Petah Tikvah, served in the Military Police’s Erez Battalion, in the same company as Sgt. Noa Lazar, who was shot dead in an attack at a checkpoint in East Jerusalem in October 2022.

He was buried at a military cemetery in his hometown.

The head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, ordered the establishment of a panel of experts to investigate the circumstances of the incident. Asor appointed Col. Yaron Simsolo, the commander of the 646th Paratroopers Brigade, to lead the probe.

The panel has not yet published its findings.