Israeli soldier gets 18 months for killing wounded Palestinian attacker

A military court sentenced an Israeli soldier to 18 months in prison Tuesday for fatally shooting a Palestinian attacker as he lay wounded in a street in the occupied West Bank.

Elor Azaria, 21, was convicted last month of the manslaughter of Abdel Fatah al-Sharif in Hebron in March 2016. Sharif was incapacitated and did not pose an immediate danger, the Jaffa Military Court heard previously. Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, another attacker, was also killed.

A video that emerged of Azaria shooting Sharif after he tried to stab another soldier went viral. An autopsy found Sharif died from a gunshot to the head, Haaretz reported.

The Tel Aviv court also demoted Azaria from sergeant to private in the sentencing, the Jerusalem Post reported. Prosecutors had asked for a 3 to 5 year sentence.

Azaria’s lawyers said they will appeal and asked for the start of the sentence to be delayed until the papers are submitted, according to the Post.

The court ruled that Azaria, a combat medic, would begin his sentence on March 5, the Times of Israel reported. Following the sentencing, Azaria's family and friends sang the Israeli national anthem and called him “a hero."

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The court case deeply divided Israel, where military service is compulsory. Hundreds of protesters assembled outside the court in the hopes that Azaria would walk free.

Nadav Weisman, the chief prosecutor, said in a statement: “We know this was a hard day for the accused, but justice needed to be done and justice was done."

“This sentence is a joke, and it shows how much discrimination Israeli courts practice against Palestinians,” said Issa Karaka, the Palestinian government minister for prisoners, according to the Associated Press.

Yisrael Katz, the minister of transportation, called for Azaria to be pardoned, joining calls by politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The court said its piece, the legal process is done. Now is the time for clemency, to return Elor to his home," Katz said in a Facebook post.

Sari Bashi, Israel/Palestine advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the prison term.

"Pardoning Israeli soldier Azaria would only encourage impunity for unlawfully taking the life of another person," she tweeted.

"Azaria's prison term-important message about reining in excessive force. But Israeli officials should also repudiate shoot-to-kill rhetoric," she added.