TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A young Israeli soldier who killed a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on Tuesday, in a show of leniency that drew Palestinian outrage after one of the most divisive trials in Israel's history. In one poll, nearly half of Israeli Jews said any Palestinian attacker should be killed on the spot. Prosecutors had asked for a three-to-five year sentence, noting the soldier had shot an assailant who had carried out an attack only minutes earlier. The Palestinian government said the decision gave Israeli soldiers a "green light" to carry out "executions" without fear of real punishment. At his trial, Azaria said he believed the Palestinian, though motionless, still posed a danger because his knife was nearby, and that he might have been carrying explosives.

Source: The Star February 21, 2017 10:41 UTC