The facts
Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced on Saturday that he had shortened the remaining erasure period on former soldier Elor Azaria’s criminal record, effectively clearing it. Azaria, an army medic, was convicted in 2017 of manslaughter for shooting wounded Palestinian Abdel Fattah al‑Sharif in the head after al‑Sharif had already been shot by other Israeli troops in Hebron in March 2016. He served nine months of a reduced 14‑month sentence and was released in May 2018. The president’s decision follows a request from Defence Minister Israel Katz and is said to be based on the passage of time, completion of the sentence, and expressed remorse. Army chief of staff Lieutenant‑General Eyal Zamir and other senior officers opposed the pardon, stating Azaria “refrained from expressing remorse and taking responsibility for his actions.” The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the 2016 shooting as an extrajudicial execution, and the UN human‑rights office described the original sentence as excessively lenient.
Our take
Fuck me. The highest medical authority in Israel has spoken, and the prescribed treatment for a convicted manslaughter is a presidential pardon. President Isaac Herzog has wiped Elor Azaria’s record, the army medic who filmed a bullet to the head of a wounded Palestinian. Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir filed a contrary prognosis, noting the soldier exhibited a stubborn and terminal case of no‑fucking‑remorse. Yet Herzog, in his infinite wisdom, decided the best therapy is to declare the whole incident healed. The president’s office claims the pardon is justified by three things: time passed, the sentence served, and remorse expressed. Bullshit. Zamir’s letter to the defence minister plainly says Azaria “refrained from expressing remorse and taking responsibility.” Either Herzog is lying about remorse or he’s calling the army’s top officer a liar. Either way, someone is pissing on the truth and calling it rain. This isn’t a simple act of grace; it’s a state‑sponsored price tag on a Palestinian life. The UN called the original sentence a joke that encouraged impunity, and the Palestinian foreign ministry labeled the shooting a war crime. By erasing Azaria’s record, Herzog sends a chilling message: the red line is fiction, and the highest office will eventually pat a soldier’s back and hand him a fresh start. The moral vacuum that lets a medic become an executioner, convict him, and then pardon him under the guise of mercy is now officially sanctioned. The healing is complete, the assassin’s record is clean, and the state’s soul is fucking septic.
