The trial of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier Elor Azaria is underway. In March, Azaria shot to death Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who lay on the ground wounded and incapacitated after he stabbed another IDF soldier in Hebron. In testimony on the witness stand July 24, Azaria said the scene of the incident had not been managed properly following the attack. “You can see civilians walking around … photographers entering the zone … in what should have been a closed military area.” Azaria described his commanders as complacent. During his three days of testimony, Azaria also attacked the senior command echelon of the IDF and claimed, “They threw me to the dogs because of their fear of the press, the media.”

We cannot ignore the fact that Azaria did not operate in a vacuum. The public atmosphere that existed in Israel encouraged shooting to kill with regard to every terrorist with a knife, without holding anyone accountable. A series of politicians from the right and the center contributed a great deal to the creation of this atmosphere. After the Azaria incident, I wrote an article for Al-Monitor in which I quoted the words of a lawyer who specializes in human rights, Michael Sfard: “If I were the defense attorney for the young man from Hebron, I know who I would have summoned as my first witness claiming that the responsibility for the killing cannot be borne solely by an 18-year-old boy.” Sfard was referring to the words uttered by Yesh Atid Chair Yair Lapid in October 2015 at the beginning of the current terror wave: “With zero tolerance. You see someone with a knife, you see someone with a screwdriver, you should shoot to kill, don't think twice."

In the first weeks of the wave of terror attacks that started at the beginning of September 2015, the expression on everyone’s lips was, “If someone comes to kill you, arise to kill them first'' (Talmud, tractate Berakhot 58a). Many of the attack scenes were conducted in this vein. Video clips of Israeli civilians were disseminated on the internet in which one could see evidence of the Israeli itchy-finger-on-the-trigger syndrome. The IDF and entire security system fell silent during this period and did not condemn or take action against those who shot those Palestinian attackers who did not threaten the lives of the soldiers. This was the policy and the atmosphere that allowed an IDF soldier to shoot 18-year-old Hadil Hashlamoun at the checkpoint near the Cave of the Patriarchs on Sept. 22. In a video clip that was disseminated later, it is clear that the soldier’s life was not in danger.

At the Qalandia West Bank checkpoint April 28, Home Security Ministry security guards shot to death two siblings, Maram Abu Ismayil and Ibrahim Salah Tahah, even though the guards’ lives were not in danger. This incident was especially salient because the brother and sister were, according to a video, at a great distance from the guards, who acted in blatant violation of orders. Afterward, a police investigation unit opened an investigation against them, yet so far the guards have not been put on trial.