David Yaari, the father of Sgt. Ohad Yaari, who was killed by an accidental discharge of a bullet in Lebanon, met with the father of the soldier detained on suspicion of firing the shot that killed his son - and called for his release.
According to him: “I plan to come to the court and tell the judge to release Ohad’s commander. Let him return to fighting for the defense of the country."
Yaari argued that the incident was an “operational mishap" and not a case that justifies criminal proceedings.
“He has received his punishment for the rest of his life," he said, adding that operational lessons must be learned, but soldiers should not be “weakened" through arrests and criminal investigations during wartime.
Ohad’s father said he asked the soldier’s father to tell his son to “hold his head high."
“If we can come to the court on Sunday, we will come, hug the boy, and lift his head up," he said.
The father of the detained soldier said he came to meet the Yaari family to comfort them and pass along his son’s condolences.
“I received an incredible embrace from the father, the mother, and the siblings," he said, adding that his son is “tormented to the depths of his soul over the tragedy" and feels that he failed in his mission to protect his soldiers. According to him, his son enlisted in the Givati Brigade after leaving a pre-military academy when the war broke out on October 7, out of a desire to take part in the fighting. The father said his son fought in difficult combat zones in Gaza and Lebanon, lost friends and commanders during the war, and planned to continue serving voluntarily in the reserves even after his discharge.
The father further said that his son wants to return to combat and is struggling to cope with the incident. “He is constantly worried about the bereaved family," he said.
“He asked me to hug them tightly on his behalf and tell them how sorry he is and how deeply he is suffering over this terrible tragedy."
Maj. (res.) attorney Wassim Daher, who is representing the soldier on behalf of the military defense counsel, said this was a “tragic and sad incident" that occurred during intense fighting in Lebanon.
According to him: “The criminal track is not appropriate for this situation," and he called on the army “to surround him with a healthy rehabilitative support framework and return him quickly to combat."