The terrorist, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, stabbed and injured an IDF soldier Video shows that as the terrorist was laying on the ground, Azaria, who is a medic, shot him in the head even though there was no apparent further danger from the attacker.
Some people defend Azaria, accepting his contention that he was afraid that the terrorist had a suicide belt and that he could reach for a knife. None of those sound convincing to me: from all evidence both on video and from the trial afterwards, it looks like Azaria decided to kill the terrorist after he posed no more threat.
Even assuming Azaria's guilt, the State Department announcement is a gross insult to Israel.
The press release says, "Promoting accountability and justice for any crimes, violations, and abuses committed against Palestinians and Israelis is essential to a stable, just, and enduring calm in the West Bank and the region. We once again call on the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to hold accountable anyone responsible for violence in the West Bank and reiterate that we will not hesitate to take our own actions to promote accountability."
Azaria was held accountable for his actions. He was tried, found guilty of manslaughter, sent to prison, and had his rank demoted to private.
The press release implies that Israel's actions to punish Azaria are not adequate and the US needs to instruct Israel on what accountability means.
This is condescending and insulting.
Moreover, it looks like the State Department overstepped its own rules. The announcement says,
This public designation is made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 (Div. F, P.L. 118-47). Azaria, as a former IDF sergeant, qualifies as a foreign government official under Section 7031(c).
A military sergeant is considered a government official? That is rarely the case, if ever. The term "official of foreign governments" typically refers to higher-ranking individuals who have significant decision-making authority or represent their government in an official capacity. This usually mean ministers, heads of state, ambassadors, and other senior government officials.
In the military, it would refer to higher ranking officers with significant responsibility, not a non-commissioned officer like a sergeant.
Before yesterday, no one would ever think a sergeant qualifies as a "foreign government official" under Section 7031(c).
This sure looks like the State Department wass shoe-horning its own rules into a situation that they were never meant to apply to, in its desire to teach Israel a lesson of "accountability." Which makes this even worse.
And it is hard to escape the conclusion that it is no coincidence that this announcement was made on the same day that Bloomberg reported:
President Joe Biden’s latest gambit to stabilize his reelection bid has been a veer to the left, looking to bolster progressive support by floating ambitious new proposals to erase medical debt, cap rent increases and impose sweeping new restraints on the Supreme Court.
It is a ham-handed attempt to show that the US is tough on Israel and even-handed in the conflict in an election year.
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