The IDF prosecution on Thursday filed an indictment against IDF Sgt. (res.) Aviad Frija in the military courts for shooting Israeli civilian Yuval Doron Castleman dead, after he had killed two Hamas terrorists in Jerusalem before raising his hands to plead for his life.
The incident occurred on November 30, 2023.
During the incident, four people were killed, and four others were wounded in a shooting attack at the entrance to Jerusalem.
While most of the victims were killed by the two Hamas terrorists, Israeli civilian Castleman, an attorney from Mevaseret Zion with a background in the security services, responded and, along with Israeli security forces on the scene, shot and killed the two terrorists.
In security camera footage, Castleman can be seen dashing with his gun from the other side and shooting at the attackers.
Frija then aims at Castleman.
Castleman kneels, raises his arms as a sign of surrender, and opens his shirt before Frija shoots him.
The indictment said that another soldier with Frija had called on him not to fire at Castleman and that the victim had taken all objective measures to show he was surrendering, unarmed, and posing no imminent threat.
Frija arrested after shooting, released shortly after
Frija was arrested a few days later on December 4 but was then placed under house arrest by the IDF court on December 5 for several more weeks.
Controversially, Frija had been allowed to go free between November 30 and December 4, and it was unclear at the time whether he would be prosecuted and under what charge, with him claiming he believed Castleman was a terrorist who still presented a danger, but with evidence on the scene countering his defense.
To date, public statements from top defense officials did not condemn him to anywhere near the same degree as “Hebron Shooter” Elor Azaria had been condemned by top defense officials after he shot and killed a neutralized Palestinian who was lying on the ground in 2015.
Frija and another soldier involved were eventually questioned under caution.
In past cases where IDF soldiers killed Palestinians while breaking the rules of engagement, such as shooting someone who has surrendered, the charges have usually not been murder but either manslaughter/second-degree murder or even mere negligent homicide.
Whereas murder can carry a life sentence or at least several decades, manslaughter convictions of IDF soldiers have often carried sentences of under two years or even under a year.
Negligent homicide convictions have carried sentences of weeks to several months.
Despite the seemingly airtight video evidence that Frija shot Castleman while his hands were raised, The Jerusalem Post understands the soldier claimed that after Castleman raised his hands, he made other suspicious movements with them.
Though Frija consented to a polygraph test, the investigation uncovered significant gaps between the testimony of the soldier and evidence found at the scene of the shooting.
According to Frija’s lawyers, Col. (res.) Shlomi Tzfouri and Col. (res.) Ran Cohen Rockberger, who was the former chief military defense attorney, the footage published on social media did not reflect the actual situation.
“The video clips from the scene of the attack that were published on social networks, and their camera angles, create a partial and erroneous impression which does not reflect what is seen and heard from the direction of the fighter,” they said. “The additional shooting by the fighter and [understanding the vantage point of] other people in the area toward the late Yuval must be examined according to all the circumstances and the situation presented to the soldier in real-time.”
Further, they said that, “from where the fighter was standing, from the sights he saw and the sounds he heard, the fighter was convinced with all his heart that he was firing at a terrorist who still posed a life-threatening danger to him and everyone around him. He had no intention of carrying out an illegal “extra-judicial killing,” and this was not how he acted. Immediately after he saw that that person was wounded and on the ground, he stopped shooting,” the lawyers said.
“After hearing the testimony of the fighter, we have no doubt that under these unusual extreme circumstances, the Military Advocate General’s Office will also reach the clear conclusion that with all the heavy sorrow from the terrible result, this is a tragic mistake that does not justify taking criminal measures against the fighter,” they had said at the time of Frija’s arrest.