Yishai Fleisher, a spokesperson for the Jewish community in Hebron, told BBC Radio on Wednesday that the public trial and the conviction of Sergeant Elor Azaria of manslaughter charges sent the wrong signal to young IDF soldiers.
“I think most Israelis agree that the action itself, of shooting a downed terrorist was not the smartest decision to make,” Fleisher told the host. “But to try a soldier publicly, to hang him in a public hanging, was a big mistake. Because, in the end of the day, we’re at war with terror, here in Israel.”
Fleisher pointed out that, despite his shooting the terrorist while the latter was already on the ground, Azaria acted in defense o his country, against “a gigantic jihad that encircles us. Therefore we’re sending the wrong signal to our young soldiers, to think too many times before shooting somebody who came to kill Israelis and Jews and who is, really, a jihadist terrorist.”
The host asked whether Israel, being a democracy, is not obligated to show that the rule of law is kept, hence the public exposure o the case.
“I think the question is which rue of law,” Fleisher retorted, explaining, “There are two kinds of law when you dal with this kind of situation. We have criminal justice law, the other is the law of armed conflict. […] If this enemy combatant came into a camp and started knifing soldiers, and was shot, and then he may have moved, may have come across suspicious and a soldier shot him – under the rules of armed conflict that’s not something you take to a trial.”
“In the end of the day,” Fleisher reiterated, “the soldier shot a terrorist who came to kill and was a dangerous enemy combatant,” and not a police officer who stood over a civilian who enjoys the benefits of the assumption of innocence.
“These are not criminals trying to steal a part, but people sworn to destroy the Jewish community in Hebron and in Israel. And the soldier reacted.”