Israeli President Isaac Herzog erased the criminal record of former soldier Elor Azaria, who killed a wounded Palestinian in Hebron in 2016. The decision, announced Saturday in Jerusalem, follows a request from Defense Minister Israel Katz, citing the decade passed since the manslaughter conviction and the completion of Azaria’s prison sentence.
The Pardon and the Presidential Rationale
President Isaac Herzog approved a request submitted by Defense Minister Israel Katz to erase the record of former soldier Elor Azaria, more than 10 years after the incident and after he had served a prison sentence. Azaria was convicted of manslaughter following an incident on March 24, 2016, in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank. At the time, Azaria served as a sergeant and military medic when he shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, also referred to as Abdul Fatah Al-Sharif, in the head as the Palestinian lay wounded and incapacitated on the ground.
Herzog’s office explained that the decision took into account the time that had passed since the shooting and the fact that Azaria had completed his sentence,
alongside an intention to allow him to open a new chapter in his life.
The announcement noted that the move was made in the spirit of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement beginning Sunday evening, and stated that the decision was not intended to undermine or cast doubt on the judicial proceedings in the case. Herzog also considered the circumstances faced by Azaria’s family since the case began.
Military Opposition and the Remorse Debate
The decision to clear the record met resistance from the top echelons of the Israeli military. In July, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir addressed a letter to Herzog outlining the army’s formal opposition to expunging the record, stating that the army opposed Azaria’s request. Zamir wrote that the position was based on several considerations, including the fact that the applicant had refrained from expressing remorse and taking responsibility for his actions, even a decade after his conviction.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the military maintained its stance that Azaria refrained from expressing remorse and taking responsibility for his actions.
During his trial, Azaria defended his actions by claiming he feared al-Sharif was wearing an explosive belt and could blow himself up, an argument that judges rejected. In his first interview after release, he said he would act exactly the same because that is how he needed to act.
Sentencing, Prison Time, and the 2016 Shooting
The original case unfolded after al-Sharif had stabbed and wounded a soldier. Al-Sharif lay on the ground, incapacitated for about 11 minutes, before Azaria approached and fired the fatal shot. Captured on a cellphone video, the shooting immediately ignited intense public debate across Israel.
An Israeli military court convicted Azaria of manslaughter in January 2017 and later sentenced him to 18 months in prison, with Azaria being 20 at sentencing. Then-Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot subsequently reduced the sentence by four months. Azaria was released from prison in May 2018 after serving about nine months behind bars, half his original sentence. Defense Minister Katz welcomed Herzog’s decision, saying it would allow Azaria to open a new chapter,
and had earlier called it a right, humane, and fitting decision after a complex operational mission.
Political Reactions and Broader Divisions
The case triggered sharp divisions in Israel at the time, highlighting deep divisions in public opinion between those who denounced the shooting, including senior army officers, and others who said it was justified, including many right-wing politicians and public figures who demanded that he be pardoned. Netanyahu had called for a pardon after the verdict, and then-defense minister Moshe Yaalon resigned amid pressure from the case, while Palestinian minister Issa Karaka had called the original sentence a joke.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir celebrated the pardon on social media, writing on X that as someone who demonstrated a decade ago for Elor Azaria, the cancelation of the criminal record of someone who eliminated a terrorist was deeply moving and joyful for him.
Ben Gvir further wrote that this record should never have existed in the first place, if the rules of engagement had been different, and urged President Herzog to also grant a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is standing trial for corruption.