Azaria's father hints at willingness to deal on reduced sentence
Charlie Azaria says family is open to having Elor apologize, show remorse if a deal for a reduced sentence was in place; Azaria's lawyer Sheftel, meanwhile, forced to apologize after insulting IDF Chief Eisenkot.
Elor Azaria's father Charlie said in an interview Monday his son would consider apologizing and expressing remorse for shooting dead a neutralized Palestinian terrorist only if a deal to reduce his sentence was offered.
"If we get a real, concrete offer of a significant reduction of his sentence, I believe we'll reach a conclusion along with our defense team," Azaria said.
"We've yet to be contacted by the prime minister of the minister of defense," he added. "Should we receive any official word, we'll consider it."
"It's not just about Elor. It's about keeping the country unified and minimizing the damage caused to both the IDF and the Israeli public. We'll be ready to entertain any such notions only out of respect of minimizing the damages caused here," Azaria said.
"The end result of the incident may be lamentable," he admitted, "but we mustn't forget this wasn't a civilian scene, it wasn't a brawl or a stabbing. It was an operational situation with wounded victims."
The law determines the Supreme Court will accept an appeal request of this kind only in extreme cases and after a long, meticulous inquiry into the matter. The likelihood for an appeal request to be accepted in this particular case seems slim.
The IDF, for its part, has clarified it will not cave in to pressure to agree to a deal, despite the Azaria family's demands. The army plans to go forward as planned, with Azaria starting to serve his sentence next Wednesday, August 9, at Prison Four.
On September 7, the verdict will become peremptory and Azaria will be able to appeal to Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot within 60 days for a reduced sentence. However, for this request to be taken into serious consideration, Azaria would need to both express remorse for his actions and take responsibility for them, neither of which he has done thus far.
Regardless, if such a request is submitted, Eisenkot is obliged to consult with the Chief Military Advocate General, Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek, for a legal opinion first and only then may he respond.
Azaria's attorney, Yoram Sheftel, got into some hot water after he criticized Eisenkot's physical appearance on his radio show, later issuing an apology.
Sheftel said on his show last Thursday the chief of the general staff is a "miserable wretch" and that he "doesn't have a soldierly appearance, looking like a fat municipal clerk."
These words brought on serious backlash from both listeners and Sheftel's fellow radio hosts, who called for his removal from the station. Following the public outcry, 103 FM station chief Or Tzalkovnik ordered Sheftel to apologize, which he eventually did.
Gal Levy, Yossi Yehoshua and Meir Turgeman contributed to this story.
