Man who shot Jerusalem terrorist: Soldiers hesitated to shoot because of Elor Azaria

JPOST

[MY TAKE IS THAT MANY RAN AWAY AND MANY STAYED.]

The military trainer that shot and purportedly killed the terrorist who rammed his truck into a group of people killing four in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood on Sunday claimed that IDF soldiers on the scene were hesitant to shoot due in part to the conviction of IDF soldier Elor Azaria on manslaughter charges.

The military trainer, identifying himself as Eitan, told Army Radio that “after rolling back on the grass, I saw the truck go in reverse, and then I realized that it wasn’t an accident.”

Eitan said, “I ran toward him and emptied my whole clip. He drove backward and onto the wounded again. I saw them quiet, some wounded and some scared. It wasn’t a good scene.”

Eitan said that he then began trying to evacuate the wounded and call for help.

He claimed that the soldiers who were on the scene were hesitant to shoot at the truck that slammed into the group of people. The fact that Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter for shooting a wounded terrorist was the reason for this hesitation, according to Eitan.

“There was hesitation to open fire. I have no doubt that this was a significant factor, because all they tell them recently is to be careful. It could be that a few minutes less of hesitation and the situation would have been better,” he added.

Commander of the Officer’s School Col.Yaniv Aluf carried out a preliminary investigation of the incident, which appeared to contradict Eitan’s version of events.

Aluf’s  investigation suggested that at least two cadets fired at close range toward the terrorist.

IDF Spokesman Moti Almoz backed this assertion, saying that it was incorrect to say that soldiers hesitated to shoot, or that the trial of Elor Azaria had some bearing on the incident.

Almoz said that some 300 people were in the area when the attack happened.

The soldiers did not understand at first that it was an attack, thinking it was a car accident, he said. “The moment that they realized that it was an attack, two cadets fired towards the truck,” Almoz added.

It was not clear if their shots killed the attacker or stopped the attack, but it is clear that they used their weapons, he said.

“The army does not know of any soldier who was afraid to shoot because of Azaria,” Almoz said, rejecting Eitan’s take on the events.

January 8, 2017 | 33 Comments »

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  1. Israel needs a change to have as its goal winning the conflict and destroying the idea of a Pal State in any size West of the Jordan River.

    Apply Israeli Law to Jewish Towns in Judea/Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

    Then start working on getting rid of all the terrorists, supporters and inciters in a military action as a start.

    The above being step one.

  2. @ bernard ross:

    Israeli policy has always been to keep our dispute with the Arabs and Palis on narrow issues of land and political recognition because they always feared broadening the conflict into a religious war even though most would agree at core it is a religious conflict….. Consequently that rules out using antisemitism as a means of dealing with the Arabs and terrorists….. Islam and christianity are antisemitic!!

  3. SHmuel HaLevi Said:

    Netanyahu can continue to make deals for cigars and brandy before he is also kicked out.

    I am beginning to wonder if this spate of investigations of the PM by Mandebilt are just red herrings designed to go nowhere but distracting attention from the very real crimes of office by Yaalon and Eisenkot. I dont see how any AG lawyer could ignore their criminal behavior. Some brandy and cigars, some recycled bottle deposits require investigation but not the blatant criminal behavior of yaalon and eisenkot. Their accusations, at Duma too, cause the deaths of many Jews and Israelis and have destroyed trust in the military. At the very least it is severe reckless irresponsibility but Yaalons own admissions show an intentional plan and execution of his serial crimes.

    He has already admitted that he intentionally declared the soldier guilty in order to avoid riots and condemnation of arabs and foreigners. He declared that in spite of a worldwide standard of leadership which mandates leaders to advise patience to wait for the verdict of the due process of law….. instead of advising Israel to wait for due process of law he advised Israel to find the soldier guilty…. in my view that is criminal behavior warranting JAIL.

    I am amazed that Israelis are not calling on Mandebilt for criminal investigations of Yaalon and Eisenkot.

  4. Bear Klein Said:

    This incitement is constant and ongoing.

    We need to destroy all terrorists and drive away and or lock up all supporters including inciters.

    I believe that getting rid of those folks requires very stiff laws on anti semitism and applying it to the muslim inhabitants selectively beginning with their cultural outlets. If anti semitism becomes a deportable crime then those who teach their children that jews are sons of apes and pigs would be thinned out over a few years.

    The world would expect the Jews to make anti semitism verboten in a jewish homeland… but oddly.. the Jews allow more muslim anti semitic abuse of Jews in Israel than the French allow in Paris. Meanwhile the world accepts that anti islamism is verboten in saudi… punishable by head chopping

  5. Sebastien Zorn Said:

    “Rfk Speech on Arms to Israel Triggered Sirhan to Assassination”

    I dont beleive the kennedy’s were killed due to the narratives given by the gov. Both kennedy’s were a huge threat to existing fiefdoms… like hoovers fbi, the cia, the mob, the cubans
    bobby perhaps a bigger threat because he had been AG under Jack, chasing the mob AND J.E. Hoover.
    Trump is in danger for the same reasons… endangering a lot of interests and their feeding troughs.

  6. @ Sebastien Zorn:
    I didnt even read the article because I dont care about their reasons for what they do… I noted the headline and made bold that of which I am speaking…. that PA imams incited or arranged the slaughter of those Jewish children… all those imams should be liquidated as terrorists. Israel needs a merciless and zero tolerance approach to both terror AND anti semitism

    Trump once said that terrorist families should be liquidated along with the terrorist… I agree.

  7. Social Equality Ministry to give 2.4m NIS for youth activities in Judea and Samaria. Minister “calls youth to come settle Judea and Samaria”

    Minister Gamliel said that “in times when there are those who would undermine our presence in Judea and Samaria, I call on young people in Israel to settle in this wonderful region of the country. You have the full political, economic, and security support of the government – let’s settle in Judea and Samaria.”

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/223004

    If only that were true… hats off to this Minister who says the words which should be daily said by the entire gov and all politicians. If the gov truly supported Jews living in all of their homeland and not accepting the foreigners narratives of designating the jewish ghetto… everything would change to the positive. It is the Jews abandonment of their gifted homeland which has now led to the Jews abandonment of their children as a sacrifice to appease foreigners and terrorists. Jewish children used to die for their homeland… and now they die as a sacrifice to appease foreigners and enemies as dictated by their Judenraat leaders.

  8. Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke at the funeral as well. “How long, Lord? Until when will the enemies and these wicked ones rejoice? Until when will we see this pain? For how long will we see parents cry, their hearts broken, because of disasters like this which are carried out by evil people who have no boundaries and no limits to their wickedness? There is no limit to the corruption and the abomination. For how long, Lord?”
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222998

    they will rejoice as long as Israelis value their childrens lives so little that they sacrifice them to appease foreigners and enemies. As long as Israelis suffer leaders who incarcerate soldiers for killing terrorists. As long as Israelis listen to the lunacy that their childrens lives should be sacrifices for fake “ethics and principles”. You need to be rid of lunatic leaders and liquidate your enemies without regret…….. or suffer dead children for no good reason.

    Israel is now led and judged by frauds trying to convince folks to sacrifice their children for the appeasement of foreigners and enemies. a people who hold their children of such little value deserve no army or nation. They say “we dont want to be like them” to distract you from the only real issue: the lives of your children… not their terrorists or their children. If being like them saves my childs life then I will gladly be like them… but then my children mean more to me than Israels children mean to them.

    there is no circumstance where an Israeli should be incarcerated for killing a terrorist…. there is no principle or ethics worth following which avers such lunacy. A people who rationalize the sacrifice of their children for such principles are undeserving of a nation and an army to protect them.

    Leaders who try to sell those concepts to parents should be immediately discharged. Such leaders are implementing the agenda of foreigners and enemies who have no value for Jeewish children. Jail folks like Yaalon or you will next have him as PM

  9. @ Bear Klein:
    Are you suggesting he is misrepresenting himself? If he is really a hero, he can brag, as far as I am concerned. Though, it’s true, I suppose anybody could say anything and we’d be none the wiser unless of course, he proves it by saying something or disproving something that shows such experience and the knowledge it brings. For example — an unrelated example — a guy was saying he practiced Zen Buddhism so I asked him, “Soto or Rinzai?” He looked at me blankly. I knew an Arab Muslim guy who was shooting off his mouth and said that he read the Talmud. Well, I haven’t for the most part, but I’m not completely ignorant. I was, at the time, though. I wish I had said, “what are the two pillars of Judaism” or how is it organized? or what language is it written in? What are the two principal editions of the Talmud and where were they written?
    “Ve haf vays of finding things out.” – Hogan’s Heroes

  10. True Heroes never need to brag about their exploits or medals. This has been written about more than once and observed by many.

    In Israel my observation is that Israeli heroes are the quietest about their exploits. Quieter than their American counterparts.

  11. I am a former decorated IDF soldier. Further to that, my life included a very long stint with military subjects as occupation.
    The damning video cannot be spun away. And that is not the only such disgrace on record.
    The Netanyahu aggregate that directly caused the conditions circulating all over the world by now, well represents him in every respect and those are the results. We are facing total collapse regardless of the idiotic spins by the usual shills.
    The soldiers run. Nekudah.
    And if anyone is stupid enough to have the officers who caused that act of self protection by the soldiers “research” the outcome, well… what can one say.
    An independent, people elected Executive Commission must take over the investigation.
    And there is no time to waste anymore.
    The general staff must be removed at once and vetted trustworthy officers promoted to command.
    Netanyahu can continue to make deals for cigars and brandy before he is also kicked out.
    No soldier may run from encounters with the enemy. NONE.

  12. @ Bear Klein:
    Necessary but insufficient. We must conquer, settle and ethnically cleanse new as well as old territory. Politically incorrect but true. As you say, it is Jihad. Crusade reverses jihad. Safety only lies in empire. We must revive the concept of glory through conquest if we wish to survive, all of us. Not holding my breath, though. It’s a problem. Many more of our people will die senselessly. Who’s next? Is it the person on your left? Or on your right? Just in front? Or in back? We didn’t defeat Germany and Japan by being more moral but by being cleverer and more ruthless. Whether G*d got involved is a matter for speculation but irrelevant except where politically useful for war propaganda against the enemy.

  13. @ Sebastien Zorn:
    Terror is caused by Islamic Jihadis not wanting Jews to have a country. There has been terror for 100 years.

    They rile these Jihadis up to kill Jews. Rumours of Jews defiling the Dome of the Rock in 1929 caused riots in Hebron & Jerusalem (maybe elsehwere also I do not recall). They kill Jews in both places and destroyed the Hebron Jewish community.

    This incitement is constant and ongoing.

    We need to destroy all terrorists and drive away and or lock up all supporters including inciters.

  14. Chart refutes TOI insinuation that lack of hope for tss causes terror.

    http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/oslo.html

    The article emphasizes that terror statistics increased every year from the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 to 1997. But, additionally, note from the chart that the lowest incidents of terror statistics since 1997 are for the years 1972 and 1982, one incident in 1972, and two in 1982. What does that suggest to you?

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-tensions-that-fuel-terror-attacks-havent-gone-away/

    “A no” today will bring the crisis while Israel stands poised near the Arab capitols. A “no” tomorrow, after all the hapless and confused compromises and “initiatives,” will bring the same crisis near Tel Aviv, Beersheva and Netanya.”
    – Rabbi Meir Kahane. 1976. http://jtf.org/forum/index.php?topic=13156.0

  15. Following the attack, the army released a video of one of the two cadets who opened fire at the terrorist, detailing how he responded to the truck-ramming. The soldier, who serves in an intelligence unit, speaks with his back to the camera and could only be identified by his first initial, T., due to the sensitive nature of his position.

    A composite image of the four Israeli soldiers killed on January 8, 2017 in a truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem. From left, IDF Lieutenant Yael Yekutiel, IDF Cadet Shir Hajaj, IDF Cadet Shira Tzur, IDF Cadet Erez Orbach. (Handout photos IDF Spokesperson)
    A composite image of the four Israeli soldiers killed on January 8, 2017 in a truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem. From left, IDF Lieutenant Yael Yekutiel, IDF Cadet Shir Hajaj, IDF Cadet Shira Tzur, IDF Cadet Erez Orbach. (Handout photos IDF Spokesperson)

    “First we thought it was an accident, but when the driver didn’t stop, we understood that it was a terror attack,” he said.

    “We ran to the truck. I loaded a magazine, cocked my gun and fired at the attacker,” T. said.

    Alaluf’s initial findings show that, in addition to T., at least one other soldier had opened fire at the attacker “from a close distance,” and it was possible that more soldiers had done the same, an army spokesperson said.

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/initial-idf-probe-says-soldiers-shot-at-terrorist-countering-earlier-report-of-hesitation/

  16. *When the people we rely on to protect us are convicted in the press and social media, five minutes after the fact, the only thing you can be sure of is the absence of due process, justice, or public safety. That’s a legal lynching. That’s shooting the leg you are standing on. That’s as stupid as it is wrong.

  17. @ Bear Klein:

    With all respect she is full of shit. No eyewitness confirms her narrative and the video surely doesn’t.. I saw panic and confusion which is understandable in one sense but these are soldiers not civilians and they were all armed…. I can tell you that if the windshield were hit by an m-16 and not a hand gun it would have shattered the windshield. I understand there were officers in the group and they seem to not have exercised either control or the lead in this situation…. That the IDF and Police are desperately trying to downplay the actions of a civilian underscores the problem they IDF has egg on their faces and are trying to cover up their complicity.

    Score one terrorist vs several hundred soldiers all armed and the score is 4 dead 9 seriously wounded and several lightly injured…. Terrorist apparently killed by civilian tour guide who was knocked down by truck got up and fired his own gun. Some soldiers might have fired at the end but it was apparently late and not effective.

  18. @ Bear Klein:
    Yes, this supports my contention though it looked pretty far away in the film, as I said, film clips can be deceptive. Please re-read my comment. The opening sentence was originally unintentionally deceptive. It seemed to say I was going to make the opposite of my point.

  19. When the people we rely on to protect us are convicted in the press, five minutes after the fact, the only thing you can be sure of is the absence of due process, justice, or public safety. It looked to me like everybody ran away. Some ran towards the truck a few feet and then away. But what we see here could be deceptive. The view of the camera is fixed. For all we know they are running to a high point just behind the camera from which to fire. I think that is a likelier scenario. We don’t know their procedures. It really denies defendants justice when there is a rush to verdict without investigation even when based on some random camera footage. We’ve seen that over here many times. Also, if this is an IDF training group, how long have they been in the IDF? If since earlier in the day, they are basically untrained civilians. Also, it is really dangerous for enemy nations to start looking at the IDF as cowards. When they stop being afraid of us, they will go to war. Regular war. Terrorism is the product of cowardice. They are afraid to face us so they attack the vulnerable in the hope of demoralizing us. The premature coverage of the Trevon Martin case — which turned out to be a justified shooting — inspired riots and knocked the news of Toulouse off the air permanently. At Toulouse, the gunman had filmed his atrocities and the film was sent to tv stations but the French President intervened.
    See:
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9154350/Toulouse-shooting-little-girl-cornered-in-school-and-shot-in-head.html

    and

    http://www.ibtimes.com/al-jazeera-considers-airing-merah-shootings-video-nicolas-sarkozy-urges-not-430426

    http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=3682

    http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-french-president-nicolas-sarkoz-20160903-024-photo.html

    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/20123271265948416.html

  20. There must not be second guessing in killing a terrorist.
    “Israel’s Disproportionate and Callous Restraint.”
    This policy by Israel’s government endangers the population of Israel and reduces safety and security.
    A response with no holds barred and zero tolerance must be taken – less talk and more action and action speaks louder than words – take off the gloves and destroy the enemy and the threat once and for all. The British and Americans after rockets hit London in WWII sent bombers on a daily basis and destroyed German infrastructure and leveled cities. The U.S. to save American lives destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Israel must do what is necessary to protect its people with no restraint whatsoever and not pacifying the anti-Semitic world at large; which throughout history has persecuted the Jewish people and used them as scapegoats.
    It is your duty and responsibility to protect the people of Israel at all costs. Do your duty. Death to all terrorists must be mandatory.
    YJ Draiman

  21. Rond’s account (and assumption regarding what was going through the soldiers’ minds) have since been refuted by several sources, including the IDF. His claims were also rejected by one of the cadets reported to have been present during the attack, who posted her own personal response to socia media. The post is translated in full below:

    “I, unlike many of you, was at Armon Hanatziv.

    “I am a cadet in the Erez Brigade on the Nahshon track—my friends were wounded, and some of them were even killed, and I have a request to ask of all of you.

    “Please stop listening to sources that don’t verify and immediately publish nonsense and distorted information.

    “Please stop distributing opinions that are based on baseless lies.

    “Please stop selling each other dime-store psychology on the subconscious that supposedly leaped into action when I saw a truck running over my friend, okay?

    “There is no connection to Elor Azaria.

    “No connection.

    “None of you should dare compare a semitrailer travelling 100 km/h to a terrorist who is lying down, incapacitated.

    “Nobody was scared to shoot for even one moment; people were scared of getting run over because there was a possessed terrorist with murder in his eyes.

    “We ran towards the truck like crazy people. People there kept trying to make contact to the extent that they were scared that there would be friendly fire, and then went back down.

    “The incident was handled in an extraordinary manner. It was only thanks to the cadets who made contact and neutralized the terrorist in less than a minute that a scenario of a much higher number of casualties was avoided.

    “We are deaing with very hard feelings. Our friends were killed and wounded before our eyes. The least that you can do is not muddy our names with a lie, certainly not when we did the complete opposite.

    “So the tour guide (without taking away from his honor and abilities) can say what he wants to news sites—but we fought for our friends.”

    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4904826,00.html

  22. “The army does not know of any soldier who was afraid to shoot because of Azaria,” Almoz said, rejecting Eitan’s take on the events.

    the army has lost a great deal of credibility since being used by its DM to declare a soldier guilty… and the military subordinates following those orders…. ALL because they wanted to avoid arab riots and foreign outrage… nothing ethical, nothing moral… they willingly and intentionally sacrificed a soldier comrade in an appeasement serial ritual.
    Credibility gone, destroyed by their own command!