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by IMEMC News
April 10, 2018 7:24 PM

Several Israeli ministers and Knesset Members praised an Israeli sniper who cheered after shooting an unarmed Palestinian boy near Gaza’s borders. (See video below.)

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the soldier “deserves an appreciation certificate” for doing his job properly.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett came “Anyone who was ever on the battlefield knows that to sit in Tel Aviv or studios and judge IDF soldiers according to their comments, when they are busy defending our borders, is not something serious.”

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said: “It would have been better if the [soldiers’] happy reactions were not circulated, but to judge them and conclude something there was wrong, is crazy.”

Ofir Akunis, the science, technology and space minister, said: “He[the boy] is not an innocent civilian who is coming to seek peace. I am sure of that.”

MK Oren Hazan twittted: “What is all the fuss about? It was noted in advance: anyone who approaches the fence, armed or not, is gonna get it. As it should be!”

He reiterated that he was proud of the soldiers defending Israel this way, and that he hopes the video sends “a clearer message to the other side.”

Arab MK Jamal Zahalka of the Joint List said: “Israeli snipers killed unarmed Palestinian protesters in cold blood who were participating in a non-violent protest. It is no wonder soldiers act this way when ministers, MKs, the media and the public opinion join the celebration and cheer for the mass killing of Palestinians.”
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Israeli Army Clears Sniper Seen Shooting Palestinian in Video; Cheering Soldiers to Be Disciplined

A preliminary inquiry finds that the sniper acted appropriately but the exuberant soldiers acted improperly and will face disciplinary proceedings

by Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz
Apr 10, 2018 6:18 PM

The Israeli military cleared on Tuesday a sniper seen in a video shooting a Palestinian approaching the border fence with the Gaza Strip.

The findings of a preliminary inquiry, launched on Monday after the video surfaced, were that the sniper acted appropriately and only fired after all other actions taken by the soldiers were did not succeed in preventing the man from approaching the fence. However, the inquiry also found that the exuberant soldiers heard in the video acted improperly and will face disciplinary proceedings.

The army said that the video was made on December 22, 2017, during Friday riots along the border with the Gaza Strip.

“Many steps were taken during the riots to disperse them, including loudspeaker [announcements] and calls to stop, the use of means for dispersing demonstrations and firing in the air,” stated the inquiry's findings. “When all these did not help, a single bullet was fired at one of the suspects in organizing and leading the incident when he was only a few meters from the fence. As a result of the fire he was hit in his leg and injured.”

The video was not shot from the sniper position and the person who filmed it was not part of the sniper team that fired the bullet, the army said.

After the full operational inquiry is completed by the entire command staff, the findings will be provided – as is customary – to the Military Advocate General for examination.

“As for the unapproved filming of an operational incident, distribution of he filmed material and the expressions heard in it, it should be noted that this is not the spirit and the level of restraint expected from IDF soldiers and it will be handled appropriately on a disciplinary level,” stated the findings.