Key testimony supports Hevron soldier

Soldier's case strengthening: commander admits he would have shot too, comrade says were told terrorist had a bomb belt.

Reut Hadar,

The soldier
The soldier
Flash 90

New testimony has been received in the case of the soldier who two weeks ago shot dead a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron, minutes after the terrorist and an accomplice stabbed and wounded a soldier.

The soldier's commander, who is the Kfir Battalion Commander, gave testimony strengthening the soldier's version of events in an investigation by the army's Criminal Investigations Department (CID), reports Maariv on Friday morning.

In his defense, the soldier, who is on trial on manslaughter charges, has argued that he shot the terrorist over concerns that he was moving to detonate a hidden bomb belt thought to be under his unseasonably warm coat.

The Kfir Commander in his testimony said that if he faced a similar situation in which he was afraid a live terrorist was about to detonate a bomb belt, he would shoot the terrorist too.

Another important revelation came in the investigation from the soldier's comrade who was on the scene, identified as Corporal Tomer, who said the soldier told him the terrorist "needed to die."

Under investigation, Tomer acknowledged that "the terrorist looked suspicious, because he was wearing a coat and could have been hiding a bomb."

The platoon commander who checked the corpse of the terrorist when he arrived on the scene told the security forces that there were concerns that the terrorist had a bomb belt on him, and told them to summon a bomb sapper to the scene.

Another soldier, who guarded the wounded terrorist as seen in video of the incident filmed by the radical leftist NGO B'Tselem, said he was appointed by his commander to guard the terrorist.

He recounted that the soldier who shot the terrorist asked him, "what is this, the terrorist is alive?," at which he told him, "yes, we can't touch him. Apparently he has an explosive on him. They're waiting for a bomb sapper."

The gathering accounts strengthen the soldier's version of events, according to which he shot out of concerns the terrorist was about to detonate. They come after a Magen David Adom (MDA) investigative committee and a CID officer confirmed that concerns of a bomb belt had not been ruled out.

On Thursday it was decided to keep the soldier in detention on an open base for an additional week. Next week the military prosecutor is expected to submit an indictment against the soldier, and continues to insist on charging him with manslaughter.