Netanyahu: ‘No place’ for incitement against Hebron soldier’s commander

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday defended the commander of Sgt. Elor Azaria, the soldier on trial for killing a disarmed Palestinian assailant in Hebron, after he received threats and was vilified by far-right activists for his testimony against his subordinate.

Referring to the hatred directed towards Maj. Tom Na’aman in certain circles, Netanyahu said “There is no place for such inappropriate hyperbole.”.

The prime minister added: “I trust the IDF, the chief of staff, the commanders and the soldiers. I trust the justice system one-hundred percent. It is professional, honest and fair, and I call on everyone to calm the tone and leave the IDF out of politics. We need to protect the army as it protects us.”

Military prosecutors have now asked the court to place a gag order on the names of witnesses in the trial, citing far-right incitement against Na’aman.

“It is regrettable that we’ve come to this but we have no choice,” prosecutors said, according to Channel 2 News. “We will protect every witness.”

Meanwhile, opposition leader Isaac Herzog spoke with the officer’s mother on the phone on Monday, and told her that the “vast majority” of Israelis supported her son’s actions in testifying.

“I told [her] I would like to express deep solidarity with Tom against those who would destroy the IDF’s moral basis, the code of truth-telling and law-keeping, and our most basic norms,” Herzog told the media.

Herzog said he was surprised that Netanyahu had not seen fit to speak with Na’aman’s family as he had spoken to the Azaria family following Elor’s arrest. “If his staff is having trouble getting the number, we’ll give it to them,” Herzog added wryly.

On Thursday, Na’aman testified in the Jaffa Military Court about the March 24 incident, during which Azaria was filmed shooting Abed al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif in the head, nearly 15 minutes after al-Sharif and another Palestinian man, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, stabbed an Israel Defense Forces soldier in Hebron.

Na’aman provided damning testimony against Azaria, saying al-Sharif posed no threat and that after the shooting Azaria told him: “This terrorist was alive and he had to die.”

After he testified, Na’aman came under immediate attack on social media, with users calling him a “traitor” and saying he should die.

On Sunday, police detained an Israeli settler for allegedly inciting violence against Na’aman. The 34-year-old resident of a settlement in the Samaria region of the West Bank was suspected of “incitement to violence, harassing a witness and insulting a public official” through posts on social media against Na’aman, police said.

On Facebook, the suspect wrote: “In the next few days we’ll post where this traitor is from and what the phone number for his family is, and maybe they will be able to influence this traitor who sold his soul to the devil for his next promotion.”

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot denounced the attacks against Na’aman, saying the officer had his “full support,” and reiterated the need for a fair trial without outside intervention.

Thus far, only the unnamed Samaria resident has been arrested in connection with the incitement against Na’aman.

He was taken in for questioning at the police’s West Bank division, and was let out later in the day, with “appropriate conditions,” police said, not specifying the terms of his release.

On Sunday, Eisenkot spoke with Na’aman on the phone to express his support.

In a statement afterwards, the army chief called for witnesses in the trial “from the prosecution and the defense to speak the truth without concern and without fear.”

Eisenkot’s comments were reiterated by politicians across the political spectrum. In posts on Facebook and Twitter, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid, Zionist Union MK Shelly Yachimovich and Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni all condemned the attacks against Na’aman.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, also expressed his support for the officer.

“Just as I was the first person to come out against the early, public judgment by the political leadership against Elor Azaria, I also call for an immediate end to the attacks against the company commander who fulfilled his duty and testified as required by law,” Bennett tweeted on Sunday.

“It is absolutely forbidden to attack him for that,” he added.

Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, one of the public figures most outspoken against Azaria’s actions, also wrote on social media to condemn the incitement against Na’aman, saying it “crossed a red line.

“I call for the leadership to stop bowing to the extremist minority, to speak out clearly and forcefully against this forbidden action and give basic and ethical support to the fighter and commander who showed courage outside the battlefield,” Ya’alon wrote.

Prior to replacing Ya’alon as defense minister, Avigdor Liberman spoke in favor of Azaria and denounced the trial against him. However, after his appointment last month, Liberman promised he would not intervene in the trial.

Liberman, who was traveling to the United States on Monday, released a statement saying he “denounced every attack and insult against IDF officers,” without specifically addressing this case or Na’aman by name.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.