Israeli police said today that they arrested two people for inciting violence on social media against three military judges who convicted a soldier of manslaughter over his fatal shooting of a wounded Palestinian.
The judges found Sergeant Elor Azaria, 20, guilty of the charge yesterday, and supporters have set up several Facebook pages urging Israel’s president to pardon him. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also called for a pardon on his own Facebook page.
The case has polarized Israel. A military security detail was assigned to the judges yesterday, when several hundred far-right supporters of Azaria clashed with police outside the Tel Aviv military base as the verdict was being read out.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said officers had arrested a man in Jerusalem and a woman in the southern town of Kiryat Gat whose social media comments constituted “incitement to violence” against the judges.
Ten months ago, Azaria was an army medic serving in the city of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, when he shot Abdul Fatah Al-Sharif, 21, in the head with an assault rifle while Al-Sharif lay on the ground incapacitated.
Ruling in one of the most polarizing cases in Israel’s history, the judges convicted Azaria of manslaughter, saying he acted out of a sense of vengeance and had said after pulling the trigger, “He deserved to die.” He faces up to 20 years in prison, although legal experts expect a much lighter term. Sentencing is expected in the coming weeks.
Soldier's lawyers accuse judge of bias in Hebron shooting case https://t.co/Wtr5E0pkF8 pic.twitter.com/eQgQ9XiZiZ
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) November 20, 2016
The trial has generated debate about whether the military is out of touch with a public that has shifted to the right in its attitudes towards the Palestinians. A poll published yesterday by Israel’s Channel 2 television showed that 67 per cent of respondents favor a pardon for Azaria. Many right-leaning politicians advocate the same.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
