After losing manslaughter appeal, Elor Azaria asks IDF chief for leniency

The former IDF soldier sentenced to 18 months in prison for the March 2016 shooting death of a Palestinian assailant asks for leniency.

Elor Azaria, who lost an appeal of his manslaughter conviction earlier this week, writes in a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot that he has decided against appealing to the Supreme Court.

Instead, he asks the chief of staff to convert his 18-month imprisonment to community service.

“If I had known that the terrorist was not carrying a bomb, I would not have shot him,” Azaria writes.

Both the Jaffa Military Court and the appeals court ruled that Azaria did not shoot out of fear that there was a bomb, but out of anger at the Palestinian stabber who had just wounded a fellow soldier.

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