Israel's president pardons a combat medic whose shooting of a Palestinian attacker caused debate

JERUSALEM: Israel's president Saturday pardoned the combat medic who shot dead at close range a badly wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the occupied West Bank a decade ago.

Elor Azaria's conviction for manslaughter and his release after serving two-thirds of his sentence drew enormous attention in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jewish men. In his first interview after his release, Azaria said “I would act exactly the same, because that’s how I needed to act.”

President Isaac Herzog in a statement said he acted on the recommendation of Defense Minister Israel Katz and cited the time that had passed, and the spirit of the approaching Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, as among the factors in his decision.

Katz in a separate statement called it a “right, humane, and fitting decision” and said Azaria had been in a “complex operational mission.”

Azaria had approached Abdel Fattah al-Sharif as he lay on the ground, unarmed and badly hurt, after stabbing a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. A cellphone video captured Azaria shooting al-Sharif in the head.

His conviction was a rare case of a military court ruling against a soldier for deadly action taken in the field. Top generals had pressed for his conviction, while many in the Israeli public supported Azaria. Some supporters protested outside his trial.

On Saturday, Israel's hard-line Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir in a statement said that “canceling the criminal record of someone who killed a terrorist makes me emotional and very happy.”

Some Palestinians and human rights groups had described Azaria's 18-month sentence as far too lenient.

Herzog's statement on Saturday said his decision “does not constitute a reassessment of the case.”