Israel President Herzog pardons soldier Elor Azaria in landmark West Bank case

Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Saturday pardoned Elor Azaria, the combat medic convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead at close range a badly wounded Palestinian attacker in the occupied West Bank a decade ago.

The case had drawn enormous attention in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jewish men. Herzog said he took the decision on the recommendation of Defence Minister Israel Katz, and cited the time that had passed and the spirit of the approaching Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, among the factors behind the pardon.

Azaria had approached Abdel Fattah al-Sharif as he lay on the ground, unarmed and badly hurt, after stabbing a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. A cellphone video had captured Azaria shooting al-Sharif in the head.

His conviction was a rare case of a military court ruling against a soldier for deadly action taken in the field. Top generals had pressed for his conviction, while many in the Israeli public supported Azaria. Some supporters had also protested outside his trial.

Azaria's conviction for manslaughter and his release after serving two-thirds of his sentence had remained in focus in Israel. In his first interview after his release, Azaria said, "I would act exactly the same, because that's how I needed to act." In a separate statement, Katz called the pardon a "right, humane, and fitting decision" and said Azaria had been in a "complex operational mission." On Saturday, Israel's hard-line Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir said, "cancelling the criminal record of someone who killed a terrorist makes me emotional and very happy."

Some Palestinians and human rights groups had described Azaria's 18-month sentence as far too lenient. Herzog said his decision "does not constitute a reassessment of the case", as the pardon brought renewed attention to one of Israel's most closely watched military cases in recent years.