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afp
Jerusalem
Israel's military chief of staff on Wednesday reduced the sentence of a soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a prone Palestinian assailant by four months, in a case that has deeply divided the country.
The move cut Elor Azaria's sentence from 18 to 14 months after the soldier pleaded for leniency, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus told AFP.
Azaria, 21, was convicted in a military trial that led to an extraordinary public rift between military chiefs and the country's top politicians.
Military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot had repeatedly denounced Azaria's actions, putting him at odds with right-wing politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who called for the soldier to be released.
"Despite the fact that it is clear from the words of the chief of staff that Azaria's actions were contrary to the code of conduct and to the values of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) ... he decided to do so out of consideration of the fact that he is a combat soldier and a warrior" who had"endured a lot," Conricus said of the reduction.
In a letter to Azaria, Eisenkot wrote that"it must be said from the outset clearly and unequivocally that from the point of view of the chief of staff, your conduct was inappropriate and contrary to army orders and to the army's values."
"The chief of staff however believed that it was appropriate to consider grace and mercy considering your past as a combat soldier in the operational arena."
The March 2016 shooting in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was caught on video by a human rights group and spread widely online.
