Israel's president pardons a combat medic whose shooting of a
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
Ten years. That's how long this medic waited to get his life back. The man was 19 when he shot a wounded terrorist who had just stabbed an Israeli soldier, and the state decided the correct response was to prosecute him for it.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Israel's president on Saturday pardoned the combat medic who shot dead at close range a badly wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the occupied West Bank, a case that divided the country a decade ago.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Ten years. That's how long this medic waited to get his life back. The man was 19 when he shot a wounded terrorist who had just stabbed an Israeli soldier, and the state decided the correct response was to prosecute him for it. Now the president has finally stepped in with a pardon, and even at this late hour, the case still splits the country. Sometimes justice shows up late, but it showed up.
Here's what actually happened in 2015: a Palestinian attacker stabbed an Israeli soldier near Hebron. The terrorist was shot and wounded, then the medic — a soldier himself — walked up and fired at close range. Was it cold-blooded? Or was it exactly what you'd expect from a soldier who just watched a comrade get stabbed? A military court originally showed him mercy, but then the pressure got to the system and he was sentenced to 18 months for manslaughter. Eighteen months for putting down a wounded terrorist. The left in Israel called it a necessary defense of the rule of law. We call it a shameful piece of political theatre that treated a defender like a criminal.
The comparison to the United States writes itself. Two years before this, just down the road, Sergeant Elor Azaria pulled the exact same trigger in a similar situation and got the exact same treatment from his own government. These were not lawless soldiers acting out of malice. They were people who understood something the court system had forgotten: the war doesn't pause because the enemy is bleeding. In America, we watch our own leaders send mixed signals on who the enemy is and who gets the benefit of the doubt. That's a dangerous game.
So yes, the pardon is a relief. But it's also a correction, and a reminder that ten years of legal limbo is a terrible way to treat a young man who was doing his job in ugly circumstances. Maybe the new leadership in Israel understands something the old guard didn't. A country that can't tell the difference between a soldier and a shooter won't stay a country for long. This one came out right in the end, but the crime was that it took this long at all.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.