Article snippet: JERUSALEM — An Israeli soldier who shot an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the head was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Tuesday, in a case that has divided Israelis and prompted calls for his pardon. Col. Maya Heller, a judge speaking on behalf of a military panel in Tel Aviv, reminded the defendant, Sgt. Elor Azaria, that his conviction for manslaughter was “grave” and that he could have faced up to 20 years in prison. “The acts of the defendant are serious,” the judge said, according to a pool report from Israel Radio. “The accused damaged the purity of arms which is so holy” in the Israel military, she added. “There is a need to safeguard humanity.” Sergeant Azaria, now 20, was convicted in January by a panel of military judges for the death of Abed al-Fatah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in March. Widely shared video showed the sergeant shooting Mr. Sharif, who was lying still on his back, in the head. Mr. Sharif and another Palestinian had stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint. Israeli soldiers had killed the other man and wounded Mr. Sharif. The case unfolded against a backdrop of random attacks by Palestinians using guns, knives and vehicles that had killed at least 28 Israelis in a little over four months. The decision to prosecute Sergeant Azaria rapidly emerged as a flash point in the debate over the Israeli military and its role as the nation’s conscience and most trusted institution. Conservatives in Isra... Link to the full article to read more