Military prosecutor Lt. Col. Adoram Rigler on Thursday told the court during a hearing on the remand of Sergeant A, the IDF medic suspected of shooting an Arab terrorist who was lying on the ground in Hebron last Purim, that the charge against him is going to be manslaughter. Initially, military police investigators warned Sergeant A he would be charged with murder. According to Rigler, the terrorist’s autopsy will be conducted on Sunday. Meanwhile Israel’s Supreme Court has denied a petition by the terrorist’s family that an Arab pathologist participate in the autopsy. The court did allow for an Arab pathologist to observe the procedure.
Rigler told the court that the available evidence raise serious suspicions against Sergeant A, which require remanding him to prison. According to Rigler, Sergeant A shot the Arab terrorist on purpose and needlessly, and stressed that the suspect’s version that he saw the terrorist be cause he felt that his life was in danger was manufactured “hours after the event.” Rigler cited Sergeant A’s battalion commander Lt. Col. David Shapiro who testified that he did not believe the account he offered. Rigler cited another soldier who testified that had he known Sergeant A was going to shoot the terrorist on the ground he would have prevented him from doing it. Rigler also cited the company commander who testified that while he was identifying the terrorist as being alive, he saw the shot hitting his head.
Prosecutor Rigler placed a great deal of importance on quotes from Sergeant A himself at the time right after the shooting. For instance, when he was asked by the company commander why he did it, Sergeant A answered: “The terrorist was alive, he was supposed to die.” Rigler argued that this statement constitutes the essence of a confession and also provides a motive for the shooting. Apparently, Sergeant A also said that he killed the terrorist because “he stabbed my buddy.”
On Wednesday, a paramedic testified in court that the terrorist on the ground was looking at him and moved his arm, while the witness was caring for the stabbed soldier. At some point the witness heard someone say in Hebrew, “Watch it, watch it, he’s moving,” which would support the argument that there was general concern that the terrorist on the ground might be wearing a suicide belt. The paramedic then said that when he heard the explosion—the shot from the Sergeant’s gun—he was sure the terrorist had ignited his bomb.
While the court proceedings continue, there is a broad consensus among Israeli Jews that Sergeant A should not be standing trial at all. A Channel 2 News poll showed that only 5% believed he committed murder, meaning a whopping 95% believed he didn’t. A majority — 57% — believed he should not be prosecuted at all. 42% found his actions were “responsible.” Another 24% believed his action was a natural reaction to stress. Only 19% saw his actions as “disobeying orders.” In other words, the world and local media, as well as the military prosecution, may see Sergeant A’s action as an “extrajudicial execution,” but Israelis, after 6 months of a wave of terror, couldn’t care less.