Israeli president pardons soldier who killed wounded Palestinian in 2016 West Bank shooting

Israeli president pardons soldier who killed wounded Palestinian in 2016 West Bank shooting

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Saturday granted Defense Minister Israel Katz’s request to clear the criminal record of Elor Azaria, a former Israeli soldier convicted of killing wounded Palestinian Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in Hebron in 2016, according to Haaretz.

Katz had written to Herzog in July asking him to approve Azaria's request for expungement.

The Israeli army opposed the move as a senior army officer noted that Azaria has neither expressed remorse nor accepted responsibility for his actions, even a decade later.

Following his conviction, Azaria began serving his manslaughter sentence in August 2017 and was released after nine months, in May 2018, following a reduction by the parole committee.

Herzog announced on Saturday evening he had cut short the remaining period before Azaria's record could be cleared, effectively erasing it.

In 2024, the Biden administration barred the former soldier and his immediate family from entering the US, citing his role in what it called "a gross violation of human rights, namely an extrajudicial killing in the West Bank."