Dresner, gets plea bargain
Photo: Avisag Sh'ar Yeshuv
Or Hadad, killed by misfire
Reproduction photo: Avi Mualem
Golani misfire: Shooter sentenced to 27 months in jail
Shortly before verdict, Sergeant Daniel Dresner who accidentally shot dead fellow Golani Brigade soldier Or Hadad in August says, 'I will think of Or until the day I die'
A Golani Brigade soldier who was charged in the accidental manslaughter of his comrade Sergeant Or Hadad was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Tuesday as part of a plea bargain he signed with the Haifa Military Court.
The defendant, Sergeant Daniel Dresner accidentally shot Hadad while he was playing with his weapon some four months ago.
The incident occurred in August at a Golan Heights army base. Sergeant Hadad was hit in the back, and was evacuated to hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead.
The court martial accepted the plea bargain between the parties, according to which Dresner, who has been held in custody since the time of the incident, will be demoted to the rank of private.
After deducting time off for good behavior, the soldier is likely to be released from prison in about a year-and-a-half. This is a relatively light sentence considering the offence he has been charged with – manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Dresner's attorney, Aharon Shlein said the consideration behind the plea bargain were that it was a legitimate incident of a soldier handling with his weapon, which ended tragically when the soldier absentmindedly fired his weapons and shot Hadad, causing his death.
Dresner himself said a moment before the verdict was given that not a day goes by that he doesn't think about Hadad: "I will think about him until the day I die."
After the parties presented the plea bargain to the panel of judges headed by Justice Colonel Erez Porat, the judges took a brief recess to consult with one another, and then announced that they accept the deal.
The military's inquest of the incident revealed a series of command and protocol failures, leading IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi to reprimand the commander of the Golani Brigade's 51st Batallion, as well as the squadron and company commanders over the incident.
