Elor Azraya, morality and the IDF

I’m not sure what side I come down on about Elor Azraya, the IDF soldier who shot and killed a Palestinian stabber last week as he was laying on the ground.

My initital reactions were anger, fear and sadness in response to the instant anti-Elor reaction, given that guerilla warfare terror attacks are anything but clear-cut.

We are talking about a Palestinian stabber who came with the intent to kill, who was seen still moving after he was neutralized. What came to mind was the rabbinic dictum of “haba lehorgecha hashkem lehorgo,” (“rise up and kill someone who is trying to kill you”), prioritizing the preservation of one’s own life even at the price of taking another’s.

And fear. The fear of a voice that says, what if this soldier screwed up? What if this IDF soldier’s moral compass was off and he committed the ultimate military and, more importantly, human crime of killing wrongfully?

Either way, how this soldier was being distortedly painted, as if he were a bloodthirsty creature killing a defenseless man, is disturbing.

We are not talking about a radical right-wing extremist committing a vigilante act, but someone who may have made the wrong call in a profoundly stressful and potentially life-and-death situation.

This soldier’s fate was sealed in advance by the instantaneous, frenetic pace of media, and hence in the court of public opinion. Where is the more complex discourse that should reflect the ethical complexity of a very difficult scenario. Instead, the issue is distilled to what side are you on …  is Elor a cold-blooded murderer or one who justifiably killed in self-defense … yes or no … for him or against him.

Because a video of the incident WAS filmed by B’Tselem (which seem always to be on hand breathing down the IDF’s neck, relishing the opportunity to catch Israel’s soldiers in the act of doing something wrong just so they can shout to the world, we told you), the IDF was described as “terrible” and “immoral” and sensationalism became the story.