Israeli media sources reported that an Israeli military court in the coastal city of Jaffa on Wednesday sentenced an Israeli army officer to 15 months in jail.
The officer and his company were involved in the shooting of a Palestinian civilian and the theft of a car in the city of Hebron in mid July 2007.
The company and their officer attacked a Palestinian taxi driver and stole his taxi. When another civilian approached them, they shot him in the neck and abandoned him to bleed.
The soldiers said that they took the taxi after one of their comrades had twisted his leg and could no longer walk.
An Israeli army investigation later revealed that none of the troops had been hurt or required urgent transportation. In addition, the investigation by the army said that the soldiers had been trying to use the taxi in an undercover attack on Palestinians that had not been approved by their superiors.
On Wednesday the court sentenced Lieutenant Ya’akov Gigi to 15 months in prison and was demoted to the rank of private.
The court case followed extensive pressure resulting from a successful media campaign led by Israeli human rights groups.
