How media blackout on Hebron shooter trial will undermine IDF
Following threats against the commander of the soldier who shot a Palestinian assailant on the ground in Hebron, the prosecution has asked that future witnesses testify behind closed doors and that the press not reveal their names.
The military prosecutor’s unusual request to impose a blackout on the names of witnesses in the trial of Elor Azaria, who shot a Palestinian assailant on the ground on March 24, sends a pathetic message of weakness and surrender in the face of growing extremism in Israeli society and the spread of crassness in the public discourse.
The request was submitted June 20 following a flurry of verbal assaults and threats over social media targeting Azaria’s commanding officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Maj. Tom Neeman. The highly regarded officer testified at the trial of Azaria, who is accused of killing a “neutralized” attacker in Hebron. In his testimony, Neeman said that Azaria shot the man without his permission and without any operational motive, and later told him, “The terrorist was alive and needed to die.”
