Israeli President Isaac Herzog has pardoned Elor Azaria, the former Israel Defense Forces soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker in Hebron in 2016. The decision, announced on Saturday, 19 September 2026, accepts Azaria’s request and erases his criminal record.
Azaria was convicted over the shooting of Abdel Fatah al-Sharif on 24 March 2016, while serving in the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF. Al-Sharif had stabbed a soldier and was wounded when Azaria shot him. The case became a prominent test of Israeli military justice and divided opinion in Israel and beyond.
The military court’s manslaughter ruling was unusual in cases involving soldiers’ actions in the field. Azaria received an 18-month sentence and began his prison term in August 2024. He had completed two-thirds of the sentence before the pardon.
Herzog acted on a recommendation from the defence minister, Israel Katz, who welcomed the decision. The President’s Office said the pardon did not revisit the conviction or reconsider the underlying case.
In its statement, the office said: “After many long years in which Azaria bore the consequences of his actions, the president believes that the circumstances as a whole, the passage of time, and the regret he expressed justify allowing him to open a new chapter in his life”.
The office said Herzog made the decision in the spirit of Yom Kippur, the approaching Jewish holiday associated with reflection and forgiveness. Katz also tied his support to the holiday, writing on X/Twitter: “On the eve of Yom Kippur, this is a correct, humane and worthy decision, expressing the spirit of forgiveness and the possibility of opening a new chapter”.
Katz described Azaria as a combat soldier and an outstanding combat medic in the Kfir Brigade. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security, called the decision “emotional and very happy”.
Herzog’s reference to regret sits alongside Azaria’s own public account of the shooting. Azaria stated: “I would act exactly the same, because that's how I needed to act”. The President’s Office did not set out the specific form of regret it said he had expressed.
Many Israelis supported Azaria during the case, while some Palestinians and human rights groups said his 18-month sentence was too lenient. The pardon ends the criminal-record consequences of a conviction that had come to symbolise sharply differing views of soldiers’ conduct during field operations.
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