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The soldier in Hebron who shot a wounded assailant was formally charged with manslaughter yesterday.

The soldier was named by the media as Sgt. Elor Azaria after his defence team applied to the court to have the court-order on revealing his identity lifted. He is 19 and from Ramle in central Israel.

According to Haaretz, the indictment claims that Azaria shot in “violation of the rules of engagement, and without operational justification, while [Abdel Fattah] al-Sharif lay wounded on the ground … and did not pose immediate and real threat to the defendant, civilians or soldiers in the area.”
He was also charged with unbecoming conduct.

Abdel Fattah al-Sharif stabbed an Israeli soldier in Hebron and was shot and wounded in the process of carrying out his attack. A few minutes later, he was shot by Sgt Azaria. Sgt Azaria claims he noticed that al-Sharif was moving and feared that he might be about to detonate an explosive vest.

The case continues to be controversial in Israel, with the political Right criticising IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon.

A large concert and rally will be held in Tel Aviv tonight in support of Sgt Azaria. Originally, this event was due to be headlined by Israeli pop-stars Eyal Golan and David D’Or, but both cancelled their participation yesterday due to the increasingly-political nature of the event. Golan, one of Israel’s most famous musicians, wrote that he was cancelling due to receiving: “dozens of requests from people like me, who on one hand value the soldier, and on the other hand revere the state’s and army’s values.”

The concert has been organised by former Israel Beiteinu MK Sharon Gal. Israel Beiteinu and its leader Avigdor Liberman have been among the most vociferous critics of Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and the decision to prosecute Sgt Azaria.