Last update - 00:00 13/02/2008
Court okays soldier's 15-month jail term for Hebron rampage
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
The officer in charge of an army unit that went on a wild rampage in the West Bank and shot a Palestinian without justification last July was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday and demoted to rank of private by a military court in Jaffa.
The court okayed the 15-month prison term that had been reached in a plea bargain the week before, but decided to demote the commander to private instead of only to sergeant.
Lieutenant Ya'akov Gigi's sentence was the result of an agreement between his attorneys and the Military Advocate General (MAG).
MAG has not yet presented any charges against First Sergeant Dror, who actually pulled the trigger, despite promising that it would do so. Dror claims that the way the Palestinian looked at him was enough to classify him as a "suspect" and to justify opening fire.
Gigi and five of his soldiers hijacked a Palestinian taxi last July in the West Bank village of Dahariya, near Hebron. They then shot an innocent passerby and left him there, even though he was severely wounded in the neck.
The soldiers also lied in the initial investigation of the incident, as Israel Defense Forces sources reported at the time. They claimed that one of the platoon's soldiers had sprained his ankle during a morning patrol of the village and was no longer able to walk, so the officer decided to commandeer a Palestinian taxi. Then, they said, after they had tied up the driver and taken control of the vehicle, another Palestinian approached the car, and the soldiers decided that he was acting "suspiciously." One of them therefore fired shots at him, wounding him in the neck.
However, IDF sources said the investigation revealed that none of the soldiers, who belong to the Lavi Battalion of the Kfir Infantry Brigade, had sprained an ankle. Instead, the platoon had decided of its own accord to carry out an undercover operation, without coordinating the operation with their superiors.
'Stupidity plus overmotivation'
They allegedly removed their uniforms, donned civilian clothing and then commandeered the taxi. One of the senior officers conducting the inquiry referred to the soldiers' actions as "stupidity stemming from over-motivation."
They did not stop to treat the wounded Palestinian, who was reportedly severely hurt, but rather left him behind bleeding. The soldiers also failed to report the incident. The affair came to light only after the media reported about the wounded man.
Dror, describing the incident in his testimony last month, said: "He looked at me. All the others looked suspicious and he was more suspicious ... I thought he was a threat to my life, because I was under such pressure.
"When your life is in danger, you shoot to defend yourself. That's what they teach you in the army. That's what I was brought up on," he said, adding that every commander he served under had told him that.
Asked to give the names of the officers who had told him so, Dror replied: "I've passed through almost eight officers and I can't say who exactly taught me that."
He testified that he was a professional soldier and an experienced sniper who took part in many operations. He said he had never shot at anyone prior to this incident, but had fired at a fuel container and an empty gas container.
He said that when he first reported that the Palestinian looked suspicious, the officer instructed him to "keep him away."
Then, the Palestinian made a movement with his arm that looked as if he were drawing a gun, so Dror fired at him from inside the slow-moving taxi. "I was in panic afterward. I was in shock. I was half in shock," he said.
He said that Gigi rebuked him after the shot. "What have you done? You shot him," Gigi said.
Dror has since completed his military service and is now studying at a yeshiva in Jerusalem.
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