Elor's friends released from army service
Elor's friends released from army serviceYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Fellow soldiers from Elor Azariya’s unit were released today from their mandatory army service, after serving 3 years as combat soldiers.

Channel 2 reported that the soldiers came today, Tuesday, to the Soldiers’ Center in Jerusalem, where they went through the procedures of release from mandatory service. During the process, they wore shirts on which a picture of their comrade Elor was emblazoned - along with the description “not guilty.”

“We don’t want to get into whether what he did was okay or not okay,” they said, adding, “We support him and hope that he comes out not guilty.”

Elor’s father, Charlie, was also present at the proceedings. “I didn’t come so that they would talk about Elor or the incident. I just came to wish his friends luck in this next stage of their lives.”

“Everyone’s planning their trips abroad, while Elor is thinking about what will be on July 30,” he continued, in reference to the verdict on Elor’s appeal to be handed down at the end of the month. “It’s not fair. Elor volunteered to be a fighter to defend the State of Israel, and what they’re doing to him is an injustice to him, the family, the nation of Israel, and IDF soldiers. We saw what happened last Friday on the Temple Mount, and nothing needs to be added - the videos speak for themselves,” he said.

Soldier Elor Azariya was convicted in January of manslaughter after he shot a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron last March.

In February, a military court in Tel Aviv handed him an 18-month sentence. Both Azariya’s defense team and the prosecution appealed the decision, and a decision on the appeal is to be given on July 30.

Yesterday, the court ordered that Azariya be released to house arrest, with an allowance to go to synagogue on Shabbat, starting on Thursday and continuing until the appeals case decision is announced.