Sheri Oz – Elor Azaria: Victim Or Hero? Four Questions
While emotions are still running high, people are rushing to condemn the Military Court or to condemn those condemning the Military Court. I am not prepared to do either. I am still asking myself questions. Here are some of them.
- Elor Azaria killed only one of the two terrorists involved in the stabbing in Hebron that day. The soldier who killed the other terrorist was never charged nor was there any hint he did anything wrong. Who even remembers that there were two terrorists? Why is that, do you think? Could it be because the first terrorist was killed in the act and Azaria killed the second as he lay wounded on the ground, after the scene had already been secured?
- How was Azaria to know that the scene had been secured and that the terrorist who lay wounded had already been checked and found not to have on him any explosives? I saw nothing that showed that this issue was covered during the trial.
- Do we have evidence pointing to lower morale in the IDF, or to a reduced chance that soldiers will use their weapons against terrorists in the midst of an attack following charges having been laid against Azaria? I seem to remember a number of cases in which terrorists were killed during attacks on soldiers that happened after Elor was charged. In any case, anecdotal information is not evidence.
- Now that Elor has been found guilty of manslaughter, is the way opened for charging higher ranking officers who were responsible for what happened at the scene? Perhaps charges could not be laid against them before Azaria’s conviction. Is that so?
Before we decide whether the verdict is disgraceful – or not – let us think calmly about what transpired and examine all that we know. I am going to try to think of more questions and invite you to add your questions in the comments below.
This article was originally published on Israel Diaries.
