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An Israeli court on Thursday acquitted a Border Police officer charged with manslaughter over the fatal shooting of an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem’s Old City three years ago.
The Jerusalem District Court ruled that the officer was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed 32-year-old Iyad Hallaq. The case has drawn comparisons to the killing of George Floyd in the United States at the hands of the police.
The court described the accident as a tragic mistake, noting that the officer made a split-second decision in a dangerous situation.
The court said risk taking was “an integral part of military activity”. The court said the officer, whose name was not released, was acting “in good faith” when he shot Hallaq dead, believing him to be an attacker.
Hallaq’s family has long been critical of the Israeli investigation into the killing. After the decision was issued, Hallaq’s mother, Rana, walked out of the courtroom in tears.
She described her son as “simple and quiet”. “They killed him because he was quiet,” she said.
She added that she had great hope in God, “Our Lord has another judgment.” Hallaq, 32, was fatally shot inside the Lion Gate in the Old City on May 30, 2020, while on his way to an institution for people with special needs that he attended.
The police, under the pretext that they thought he was a Palestinian attacker, pursued him and told him to stop.
According to accounts at the time, two Israeli paramilitary Border Police officers chased him into a rubbish room and shot him as he cowered next to a trash can.
In total, police fired four shots, shooting him twice, before dying, according to a court document.
A police investigation found that the officer defied instructions to stop firing, and acted in a “reckless” manner, according to a statement released after the ruling by the ministry’s internal investigations unit.
Hallak’s father, Khairi, said he was shocked by the acquittal verdict and vowed to pursue further legal action.
“We spent years in the courts waiting for the decision, but we did not expect this shocking decision,” he said.
We will not allow the murderer to be acquitted. Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of killing Palestinians in questionable circumstances.
They say Israel is doing a bad job prosecuting and punishing its forces for wrongdoing.
Investigations often end without charges or reduced sentences, and in many cases, witnesses are not even called for questioning.
“This is just one of many cases in which Israel consummates the killing of Palestinians,” said Dror Sadot, a spokeswoman for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
“When it comes to the senseless killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces, impunity is the policy.” The Old City has been a frequent site of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Its narrow streets are lined with hundreds of security cameras, which are monitored by the police.
But as the investigation continued this past summer, prosecutors claimed that none of the cameras in the area were operational, and there was no footage of the incident.
The Old City is part of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and annexed to its capital in a move not recognized by most of the international community.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. One of the most divisive issues in the conflict is the fate of the city.
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