A spokesman for the family of the Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian attacker says the court ignored evidence indicating the soldier was innocent.
Sharon Gal, family spokesman and former lawmaker, tells reporters, “It was like the court was detached from the fact that this was the area of an attack. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers.”
The soldier’s defense team says it would appeal the verdict.
Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman, a military prosecutor, says, “The judges decided that it was an unjustified shooting. This is not a happy day for us. We would have preferred that this didn’t happen. But the deed was done, and the offense was severe.”
The prosecutor says the verdict was “important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself.”
— AP
Elior Azaria, the Israeli soldier who shot a Palestinian terrorist in Hebron arrives to the court room before the announcement of his verdict, January 4, 2017 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
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