IDF commander gets 15 months in prison for W. Bank rampage

[breakaleg]

The officer in charge of an army unit that shot a Palestinian without justification last July was sentenced last week to 15 months in prison and a demotion.

Lieutenant Ya'akov Gigi's sentence was the result of an agreement between his attorneys and the Military Advocate General (MAG). However, it is not yet clear whether he will be demoted to sergeant, as his attorneys requested, or to private, as MAG wanted.

AG has not yet presented any charges against First Sergeant Dror, who actually pulled the trigger, despite promising that it would do so. Dror claims that the way the Palestinian looked at him was enough to classify him as a "suspect" and to justify opening fire.

Gigi and five of his soldiers hijacked a Palestinian taxi last July in the West Bank village of Dahariya, near Hebron. They then shot an innocent passerby and left him there, even though he was severely wounded in the neck.

The soldiers also lied in the initial investigation of the incident, as Israel Defense Forces sources reported at the time. They claimed that one of the platoon's soldiers had sprained his ankle during a morning patrol of the village and was no longer able to walk, so the officer decided to commandeer a Palestinian taxi. Then, they said, after they had tied up the driver and taken control of the vehicle, another Palestinian approached the car, and the soldiers decided that he was acting "suspiciously." One of them therefore fired shots at him, wounding him in the neck.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950606.html

And then we have this:

Shin Bet chief: Trial of soldiers' murderers near Hebron a 'farce'
By Barak Ravid ,Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: IDF, soldiers, PA, Hebron

The head of the Shin Bet security services on Sunday blasted the Palestinian Authority for what he termed the 'farcical' legal proceedings held against the Palestinian murderers two off-duty Israel Defense Forces soldiers near the West Bank city of Hebron late last year.

Yuval Diskin told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting that the trial held for the murderers was a 'farce,' as the PA court decided to sentence them to 15 years in prison each, rather than the life terms it had promised Israel.

Diskin said that due to pressure from Israel, the defendents were given an additional 10 years, on charges of harming Palestinian interests.

He added that the Shin Bet was currently examining the letters of indictment against the suspects.

IDF soldiers Akikam Amihai and David Rubin were hiking near Hebron in late December when they came under fire from three Palestinian terrorists in a Jeep.
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950690.html

So, the Israeli gets 15 months for killing a Palestinian and the Palestinians get 15 years for killing an Israeli and Israel is unhappy with this verdict? It's not long enough? Talk about a serious imbalance here.

[subsuelo]

1. wow

what does one say in the face of such fanatical racism?