Has justice been served in Tel Aviv?

The conviction of Elor Azaria is one step but Israel’s occupation should be on trial

Israeli solider Elor Azaria waits with his parents for the verdict inside the military court in Tel Aviv. Heidi Levine /Pool via AP

A significant amount of attention has been paid to the conviction of Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, who was found guilty of manslaughter for executing a prone Palestinian man in Hebron in March last year. The execution was caught on tape by a Palestinian volunteer of the human rights organisation Betselem and the video was published on YouTube.

The western press has largely focused on how this trial has “divided” Israeli public opinion by highlighting the moral choices (or lack thereof) that Israeli soldiers take as part of an occupying army. By focusing on this mostly manufactured aspect of the trial of Azaria, the press has unwittingly internalised a critical part of Israel’s elaborate public relations approach. Israeli society is not really divided over the horrific and murderous actions of Azaria.

The soldier is little more than an agent of the occupation and as such it is the occupation that should be tried. However, there is no discussion about why Azaria was in Hebron in the first place or the underlying moral corrosion that the occupation has facilitated in Israeli society. The soldier is a symptom of a bigger cancer and far from it being debated, Israeli society has accepted the occupation as part and parcel of the state’s existence.

Another way of thinking of this verdict is to consider the experience of Breaking the Silence. For well over a decade, this group of former Israeli combat soldiers has been documenting the abuses its members were told to carry out against Palestinians. They have released books of testimonies and videos, and have curated exhibitions detailing how there can be no morality in domination. Far from dividing Israeli society, Breaking the Silence members have been labelled as traitors and have been the target of witch-hunts by Israeli politicians. In other words, Israelis have long known about the effects of the occupation on both Palestinians and themselves. The PR mission has been to choreograph “painful” debates such as the one the western press is following in the Azaria trial. These debates give the appearance of morality inside Israeli society.

Perhaps the lasting lesson from this trial is that organisations such as Betselem need continued support. Had a Palestinian not filmed Azaria’s actions on that cold day in Hebron, the world would never have seen or heard of the killing. We need constant reminders of the brutality that is at the core of Israel’s occupation to sustain efforts to dismantle it.