Israel's president pardons ex-soldier Elor Azaria in Hebron shooting case

Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, has pardoned Elor Azaria, the former combat medic whose fatal shooting of a wounded Palestinian attacker in the occupied West Bank became one of the country's most divisive legal cases.

Azaria was convicted of manslaughter over the 2016 killing of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the city of Hebron. Al-Sharif had stabbed a soldier and was lying on the ground, unarmed and badly hurt, when Azaria approached and shot him in the head. The moment was captured on a cellphone video.

The case was a rare instance of a military court convicting a soldier for lethal action taken in the field. Senior generals had pushed for the conviction, while large sections of the Israeli public backed Azaria, with some supporters protesting outside his trial. He was sentenced to 18 months and released after serving two-thirds of the term.

In a statement, Herzog said he had acted on the recommendation of Defense Minister Israel Katz. He cited the time that has passed since the incident and the spirit of the approaching Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, among the factors behind his decision. The president added that the pardon "does not constitute a reassessment of the case."

Katz described the move as a "right, humane, and fitting decision," saying Azaria had been on a "complex operational mission." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hard-line member of the government, said the erasure of the criminal record of "someone who killed a terrorist" made him "emotional and very happy."

In his first interview after his release, Azaria said he would act the same way again. "I would act exactly the same, because that's how I needed to act," he said.

The pardon was met with criticism from some Palestinians and human rights groups, which had long argued that Azaria's 18-month sentence was far too lenient. The case had drawn attention in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jewish men.