Key facts
- The Biden administration barred former Israeli soldier Elor Azaria and his immediate family from entering the US.
- The US cited Azaria's role in an extrajudicial killing in the West Bank in 2016 as a gross violation of human rights.
- Azaria was convicted of manslaughter for killing a wounded Palestinian attacker in 2016.
- He served nine months of a 14-month sentence and was released in 2018.
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog recently granted a request to clear Azaria's criminal record.
- The Israeli army had opposed clearing Azaria's record, noting his lack of remorse.
The Biden administration has barred former Israeli soldier Elor Azaria and his immediate family from entering the United States, citing his role in what it described as a gross violation of human rights, specifically an extrajudicial killing in the West Bank in 2016. The decision comes after Israeli President Isaac Herzog granted Defense Minister Israel Katz’s request to clear Azaria's criminal record.
Azaria was convicted of manslaughter in January 2017 for shooting Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, a wounded Palestinian attacker, in Hebron in March 2016. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, a term later commuted to 14 months by the IDF chief of staff. Azaria began serving his sentence in August 2017 and was released in May 2018, having served nine months following a reduction by the parole committee.
In November 2017, then-President Reuven Rivlin rejected an appeal for a pardon for Azaria, stating that such a move would harm the resilience of the IDF and the State of Israel. However, Defense Minister Israel Katz recently requested that President Herzog expunge Azaria's record, arguing that the passage of time had rendered the previous concerns irrelevant. The Israeli army had opposed the move, noting that Azaria has neither expressed remorse nor accepted responsibility for his actions.