The Hebron soldier asks for a presidential pardon
Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting an injured Palestinian terrorist in Hebron, appealed Thursday to President Reuven Rivlin for a pardon. He explained that he was not given a fair trial “and nothing can change his sense of injustice.” He asked the president to treat his application with justice and mercy. Elor’s eighteen-month jail sentence was reduced by four months by the chief of staff before the High Holidays.
Elor Azaria’s sentence is shameful and makes mockery of justice. Anyone who kills terrorists, thus preventing or seeking to prevent further deaths is a hero and should be promoted not jailed. How can Israeli soldiers defend themselves in death and life situations, when their command is more interested in applying restrictive rules of engagement, that puts their life’s at risk, as opposed to self-defense?
A country’s first duty is the protection and defense of its citizenry. It is not morality that puts the life of a murderer, who seeks to destroy life, above that of a soldier who attempts to save life including his own. It is political correctness run amok.