Reserve Brigadier General Gal Hirsch spoke on Galei Zahal Radio about the conviction of IDF soldier Elor Azariya.
Azariya was convicted of manslaughter after he shot a wounded terrorist who had committed a terror attack and seemed to him to be attempting to detonate an explosive vest.
"We should not have opened a criminal case against the the soldier Elor Azariya, who shot the terrorist," Hirsch said. "Operational incidents need to be investigated in a discreet fashion and need to be kept completely confidential. Only the affected unit should know about the investigation at all. These incidents need to be investigated through military operational investigation only."
"Our soldiers need to be supported, unless they were morally wrong. The entire investigation process needs to be internal, within the IDF."
In Azariya's case, the prosecution is seeking a sentence of three to five years in jail and a lowering of the soldier's rank from Sergeant to Private. The jail term would not include the ten months he has already spent under arrest.
Last week, Azariya asked the court for mercy and said, "For ten months, I have been jailed, and my family has fallen apart. I am asking the court to judge me mercifully."
Elor's mother collapsed during one of the November hearings, and his father suffered a stroke in August.