A decade after a moment of violence in the West Bank lasted only seconds, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has used the full weight of executive clemency to erase the criminal record of Elor Azaria, the former combat medic convicted of shooting an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in 2016. The pardon, issued against the explicit position of the Israeli Defense Force, asks an old question anew: who holds the authority to define the boundaries of lawful force in war, and what does mercy mean when justice itself remains contested? In pardoning Azaria, Herzog has not resolved the moral reckoning th
Israeli President Pardons Soldier Convicted in 2016 Killing of Incapacitated Palestinian
One Palestinian attacker was killed by the pardoned soldier in 2016.
War & Conflict