"There is no heroism in shooting an incapacitated man laying on the ground," Atbaryan said of Azaria, a former IDF soldier who was convicted of manslaughter for shooting an incapacitated Palestinian terrorist in 2016.
"אלאור אזריה לא היה גיבור - אין שום גבורה בירייה של כדור באדם ששוכב מנוטרל על הריצפה, אפס גבורה". כך אמרה @GalitDistel והאשימה "משפטנים ומפקדים עם פנסיות צבאיות ענקיות": "אני ראיתי אותם קוברים אותו בעודו חי"@bogie_yaalon pic.twitter.com/y8ArnWAwPV
— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT) August 4, 2021
Atbaryan's comments were made during a Knesset discussion on the Military Justice Law.
Azaria served nine months in prison before being released in 2018. Atbaryan's party leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once called for Azaria to be pardoned.
While the Likud MK's opinion does not toe the opposition's party line, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also celebrated Azaria's release from prison, tweeting in 2018 "how good it is that you've come home."
אלאור, כמה טוב שבאת הביתה! pic.twitter.com/SUN1bFcYn4
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) May 8, 2018