From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 14, 2023
IDF soldier convicted for accidentally killing comrade, will be jailed for 3 years
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A soldier has been convicted of reckless homicide for the killing of a comrade on an army base near Jerusalem earlier this year, and will be sentenced to three years in prison as part of a plea deal.
The Israel Defense Forces says the Military Police soldier, named as Pvt. Binyamin Fentaye, entered a room on the Anatot Base on the night of January 2, picked up a gun that wasn’t his, and “carried out various actions” that resulted in him opening fire, killing Cpl. Baruch Kabarta.
The soldier is also charged with obstruction of justice after he allegedly tried to dissuade another soldier from providing details about the shooting.
Following a mediation process between prosecutors and the soldier’s defense team, Fentaye confessed to the charge of reckless homicide, and the sides requested that he be sentenced to three years in prison, the IDF says.
Additionally, the soldier will be handed a suspended sentence and ordered to pay compensation to Kabarta’s family, the latter of which was already carried out amid the mediation process.
The prosecutors told the military court that the agreed punishment was “more severe” compared to similar cases of deaths as a result of accidental misfires and that it “reflects the severity in which it views the case, and is intended to prevent future disasters of this kind.”
The court will officially issue a sentence on August 30.
