In March 2016, Israeli society was shaken by the Elor Azaria incident, in which an IDF soldier shot to death a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron. The affair dominated the Israeli agenda for many months. In the summer of 2016, at the height of the scandal, Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot approached the head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Avi Dichter, and asked to appear before the committee. It was no routine request and Dichter consented immediately.
During that turbulent time, the struggle for Azaria's release had become a political issue dividing the left and right. From the beginning, Eizenkot held that Azaria had acted against the basic values of the Israel Defense Forces. He refused to fold even when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly abandoned him and called Azaria’s father to score political points. It was a tense moment for Israeli society, with wide political outrage toward the chief of staff. Demonstrations outside his office included signs and slogans denigrating him and even depicting him as the wicked Haman of the Book of Esther. Politicians led by newly appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beitenu actively campaigned for Azaria’s release.
