A witness in Sgt. Elor Azaria's trial over the shooting death of an incapacitated terrorist in Hebron in March offered support for the accused's actions, testifying at the Jaffa Military Court on Monday. Two witnesses, both of them Azaria's comrades who were at the scene of the shooting, spoke in court. One of them, T., to whom Azaria passed his helmet prior to opening fire, had his previous testimony to the Military Police's Investigative Unit read aloud, before providing new testimony that was far more supportive of Azaria's actions "I think that Elor told the company commander the same sentence that he told me; that they had stabbed his friend and tried to kill him, so the terrorist deserved to die," read T.'s original testimony from the initial investigation. Asked at the time whether Azaria had expressed regret for the shooting, he had said, "I did not hear him say that he regretted it, but I saw his face look like, 'I don't know what to do,' and he looked tense." He further said that it was not unusual for a soldier to have his weapon drawn in the situation they were in, adding that "if I had known that Elor was going to shoot the neutralized terrorist, I would have stopped him." However, when cross-examined in court on Monday, T. said that he too was concerned about the possibility of an explosive device at the scene, something Azaria has stated in defense of his actions. T. went on to say that he had heard people screaming that the terrorist was still alive and about the existence of an explosive device. When Azaria's lawyers, Eyal Besserglick and Ilan Katz, questioned T., he admitted that he did not remember exactly what Azaria had said after the shooting, adding that he did not want to make a conflict out of it because "Elor could have just blabbed something in the heat of the moment that he does not remember." T. had said during his military police investigation that he did believe the terrorist may have posed a threat because "he was wearing a jacket on a relatively hot day," meaning that he could have been concealing an explosive device. He also said that during his investigation, he was shown a video of the incident under the title "A soldier executes a Palestinian who was laying on the floor after having stabbed a soldier," adding that it had influenced his thoughts "and sent the message to me that the act was not right." Asked in court why he had told Azaria that shooting at the terrorist was wrong, T. said that "at that moment on the ground, I felt that the shooting was not right, so I said so. Now, after I understood why Elor opened fire, I justify his action. If Elor had told me before shooting that he saw a bomb on the terrorist, maybe I also would have shot him." After providing his testimony Monday, T. hugged Azaria and shook his father's hand. Following his testimony, a second soldier took the witness stand. He was the first to arrive on the scene of the attack. According to him, the knife used by the terrorist in the attack was "several meters" away from the him and he was "twitching" and "grunting" on the ground. The soldier said that he did not feel the terrorist was dangerous, but that "it's possible he was dangerous for other reasons." The soldier was then read his initial testimony to the Military Police's Investigative Unit, wherein he spoke about "the danger of explosive devices." Speaking to the defense attorney, the soldier said that the prosecution had told him before his testimony that this was "a serious incident" and that he had heard similar things from the company commander, the battalion commander and the brigade commander shortly after the incident. At the same time, Azaria's battalion commander, Lt. Col. David Shapira, is testified in court on Tuesday. He has been outspoken about how serious the shooting incident is. Shapira received a special citation from the IDF for neutralizing the terrorist who carried out the Mercaz Harav massacre in 2008. Shapira said that Azaria had told him he shot the terrorist because he saw him moving and there was a knife nearby, rather than because of concerns over a possible explosive device. During his cross-examination, Shapira clarified that "even if there was a knife nearby, the gunfire was not justified because Azaria could have reduced the danger without firing." He added that this is particularly true because gunfire "endangers the lives of other citizens, including that of the company commander who stood nearby." Shapira also said that four days before the shooting, Azaria's father, had called the unit commander with concerns about his son's change in mood. Charlie said that his son was in distress because of his new role as the company medic and because of other roles he had received due to his good service. Meanwhile, a fundraising campaign to pay Azaria's attorney fees has raised some 534,000 shekels ($138,000) in two days (as of press time), surpassing the goal of 400,000 shekels. The fundraising campaign was initiated by former Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Gal. IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz said in an interview with Army Radio that "despite the fact that Elor had the option of using a military defense attorney for free, he chose to use civilian lawyers, and that's fine." Gal has been criticized, along with Channel 20, where he now works, because he apparently has offered tours of the channel's studios. Channel 20 has stated, "This is a private initiative in which the channel is not involved."
