JERUSALEM // Israeli police arrested two people on Thursday after death threats emerged online against a judge over the manslaughter conviction of a soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant.
Israel’s military has also assigned bodyguards to the three judges who found the 20-year-old Sergeant Elor Azaria guilty on Wednesday and the Palestinian activist who filmed the crime now says he fears for his life. Imad Abu Shimsiyya told Maan, the Palestinian news agency, that he had received hundreds of death threats and claimed that members of Azaria’s family had broken into his house and asked him to change his testimony.
Mr Abu Shimsiiya said he had also filmed that incident.
“I have received hundreds of messages from Israeli settlers threatening me and they have tried to pay me bribes to convince me to change my testimony in court,” he told Maan.
Azaria killed Abdul Fatah Al Sharif by shooting him execution-style as he lay motionless and already badly wounded on the ground in the West Bank city of Hebron last March. The soldier is now awaiting sentencing.
The case sparked outrage and deeply divided Israel and its leadership. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Azaria to be pardoned – a position apparently supported by 70 per cent of Israelis, according to the pro-Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom.
It is also what many Palestinians expect will happen. On Salah El Din Street, the bustling main thoroughfare of Arab East Jerusalem, the prevailing opinion on Thursday was that Israelis feel killing Arabs is acceptable. In Jewish West Jerusalem, meanwhile, many Israelis voiced anger or disappointment with the military justice system, arguing that the judging panel should have taken into account Azaria’s youth and the fact that 21-year-old Al Sharif had stabbed and wounded a soldier.
“It’s all a game and then they will pardon him,” said Hazem Abu Najib, 45, owner of a clothing store. “After two years visit me again – he will be free.”
The policy of the Israeli government was to shoot Palestinians, he added, for offences as minor as being in the wrong lane at military checkpoints.
“A pardon is expected,” said Firas Qawasme, a lawyer. “What we are seeing is theatre to make it look like there is law.”
Bookstore owner Imad Muna said Israel had employed a “double standard” by putting the soldier on trial for manslaughter rather than murder. “If it was a Palestinian who did it, they would try him for murder,” he said. “This soldier came from the society and the army teaches to kill immediately in the case of a Palestinian. “They have to teach differently. They kill Palestinians without thinking twice. The blood of the Palestinian is cheap. It’s not a big deal for them.” Pensioner Marwan Kaswineh said: “A small Palestinian boy will get years for throwing stones but this soldier will get nothing. They will not only pardon him, they will promote him.”
But in West Jerusalem’s Emek Refaim Street, there was anger over the verdict. “This is a disgrace and embarrassment to the country, the army, and those who were killed in wars to save us,” said Yakir Siso, 26, a manager of a petrol station. “He should be demoted yes, but not go to jail. He didn’t kill just anyone, he killed a terrorist who stabbed soldiers. Elor thought his life was in danger. I would do the same thing.”
Mr Siso voiced disdain for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which distributed the video of the killing, and the “extreme left”, which had forced Azaria to be put on trial when the matter could easily have been handled by a disciplinary hearing, he said.
Uzi Nigri, 56, who runs a stationery and school supplies store, said Azaria “made a mistake and deserves to be punished”.
“I’m not saying he should be put away for a huge number of years but as far as ethics goes, he failed. We need to safeguard the morality of the army.”
Mr Nigri said he was disturbed by reports of threats against military judge Col Maya Heller and the army chief of staff Lt Gen Gadi Eisencott after the verdict. “The moral level of the society has declined and the government doesn’t sufficiently condemn those who make the threats.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
MATCH INFO
First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs
Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
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- On sale: 2026
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
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The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
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Jetour T1 specs
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
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“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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