Hundreds gathered on Tuesday to protest the arrest of a soldier who killed a wounded terrorist in Hevron last Thursday. The demonstrators met outside of a military court in Qastina where a hearing in the case is currently being held.
MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) joined the demonstration, saying: “We came here to support the soldier, and to compensate for the blatant interference by the Prime Minister and Defense Minister”.
“From the very beginning there was inexplicable [effort] to interfere, [even] before the investigation began they were jumping on this 19-year-old soldier. I’m not deciding whether he behaved correctly or not; (but) I prefer a soldier who errs and lives rather than a soldier who hesitates and, God forbid, is murdered by terrorists.”
“We’ve come to support the soldier who was sent [there] by the Jewish people even when he makes a mistake; there’s no way that he can be accused of murder and turned into a criminal.”
“It saddens me that while the investigation hasn’t even been completed yet, the Defense Minister is already making explicitly clear what he believes the proper outcome of the case should be.”
MK Oren Hazan (Likud) and former Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Gal also participated in the demonstration.
Demonstrators chanted "free the hero" and called to soldiers standing guard saying that "its better in jail than in the grave".