Judges to rule on appeals in case of Hebron shooter Elor Azaria

Military judges on Sunday will hand down their final ruling on several appeals in the case of Elor Azaria, the IDF soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a wounded Palestinian assailant in March 2016.

On January 4, a military court found Azaria guilty of manslaughter for killing an incapacitated Palestinian stabber who had minutes earlier attacked two soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a demotion to private.

Azaria’s attorneys appealed the conviction in March. The prosecution, meanwhile, filed its own appeal, arguing that the soldier’s light sentence did not match the severity of his crime.

A military appellate court is expected to rule on both appeals on Sunday afternoon.

In their appeal, Azaria’s attorneys contended that the prosecution lacked key evidence and that the military was applying the law arbitrarily, as other soldiers had not been convicted or even tried under similar circumstances.

Elor Azaria, who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant, arrives at the military court in Tel Aviv on January 31, 2017. (AFP/Jack Guez)

Conversely, the prosecutors claimed Azaria’s 18-month sentence was insufficient in relation to the severity of his crime, citing similar cases in which soldiers received stiffer punishments.

After hearing both sides’ arguments through the month of May, the military appellate court encouraged the prosecution and defense to “rise above” the enmity and attempt out-of-court mediation in order to resolve the case. Military prosecutor Nadav Weissman initially refused, but eventually acquiesced.

In June, IDF chief prosecutor Col. Sharon Zagagi Pinchas oversaw a meeting between Weissman and the lead defense attorney as part of the court-mandated mediation efforts, the army said in a statement

But the mediation failed.

The divisive case has revealed deep rifts in Israeli society, with some seeing Azaria as a hero and others as a criminal.

The appeal hearings have at times been acrimonious, with the two sides trading barbs and, at times, raising their voices, but sources said the June meeting was to the point and professional, despite being ultimately unhelpful.

While this is not the first time an IDF soldier has been convicted of manslaughter, it is an exceedingly rare occurrence, as most cases are settled through a plea deal in order to avoid a trial. The few cases in which IDF soldiers have been found guilty were under completely different circumstances, giving judges little in the way of precedent to determine sentencing.

Earlier this month, Azaria was released to house arrest upon his official discharge from the army.