IPFS

Israeli Killer Soldier to Be Freed

Written by Subject: Israel - Palestine

Israeli Killer Soldier to be Freed

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Rarely ever are IDF soldiers, other security forces, settlers or other Israelis held accountable for crimes committed against Palestinians - not even for cold-blooded murder, happening all too often, the way killer cops in America operate with impunity.

Elor Azaria was a rare exception, caught red-handed on videotape lethally shooting 'Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif in the head at point-blank range, as he lay helpless, wounded on the ground, threatening no one.

Instead of first-degree murder, he was charged with manslaughter, a rare exception to the rule charging him with anything, Jews nearly always free from prosecution for crimes against Palestinians.

Instead of longterm incareration, Azaria was sentenced to 18 months in prison, a slap on the wrist, an insult to Sharif's family and all Palestinians - how things work in a Ziofascist state.

Sharif's murder occurred on March 24, 2016. On January 4, 2017, a three-judge panel convicted Azaria - his defense team's request to reverse the ruling denied.

At a January 31 hearing, prosecutors asked for imprisonment up to five years. On February 21, he was sentenced to 18 months followed by probation for another year and demotion to private.

His defense team appealed, rejected by a military court on July 30. On appeal to IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, his sentence was reduced to 14 months.

His appeal to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin for a pardon was denied, a second appeal by his parents also rejected.

If a Palestinian killed an Israel Jew, even in self-defense, he'd either be imprisoned for life or gunned down in cold blood.

On May 10, Azaria will be freed. An IDF parole board ordered him released after 10 months in prison for cold-blooded murder called manslaughter.

He's unrepentant for his high crime, an issue chief prosecutor Sharon Zagagi Pinhas stressed in arguing for a longer sentence,  again on March 14 before a parole board, saying his action was premeditated, not negligent - more evidence debunking the notion of the IDF as the world's most moral army, an insult to its countless victims.

In Israel, security forces nearly always go unpunished for crimes against Palestinians - the way all rogue states operate, free to brutalize and kill unaccountably.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html


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