Yoram Sheftel
Yoram SheftelFlash90

Attorney Yoram Sheftel spoke on his radio program RadioLelo Hafsaka (Nonstop Radio) with right-wing activist Ofer Golan, a supporter of Sgt. Elor Azaria, after Golan told Channel 2's acerbic left wing journalist Amnon Abramovich "You should have burned to death in your tank."

Abramovich served as a tank driver in the IDF during the Yom Kippur War. During a battle near the Suez Canal his tank caught fire. Despite suffering severe burns Abramovich continued to fight and to drive his tank. His face was left badly scarred and he was awarded the Chief of Staff Citation for his heroism.

Golan recounted his encounter with Abramovich, telling Sheftel "Abramovich left the court, and when I saw him I lost it. I lost my temper. I yelled at him. I drove him away in disgrace. I told him that I wished that he'd burned to death in a tank."

Sheftel said that "we should call Abramovich a 'media terrorist.' But a traitor he is not. He is a classic example of a 'media terrorist,' but no more than that."

When scandals about then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began to surface, Abramovich suggested treating Sharon as one would a precious and delicate etrog (citron used on Shavuot) so that Sharon could carry out the expulsion from the Katif Bloc.

Golan expressed remorse for his verbal attack on Abramovich. "I apologize for my malicious statement. Nothing more needs to be said. A Jew cannot behave this way towards another Jew. The Torah commands us to 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Sheftel praised Golan's apology. "Well done. It is very good that you took back your words, and it is wonderful that you defined your words as 'malicious.' These days, even when a man commits an action that disgraces the name he earned for himself when he was younger, he does not deserve to have said about him what you said. I saw Amnon Abramovich in a courtroom not long after the Yom Kippur War. His face was almost completely burnt."

Golan still believes that Abramovich's behavior in recent years deserves to be criticized "Because of his actions during the Yom Kippur War he does not deserve to be labeled a traitor, but if anyone else had done what Abramovich has done recently, but without his past record, he would be worthy of being called (a traitor).