ISRAEL (VINnews) ¯ An IDF soldier was convicted Monday of reckless homicide for the killing of a fellow soldier on an army base near Jerusalem earlier this year.
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He will be sentenced to three years in prison as part of a plea deal.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Military Police soldier entered a room on the night of January 2, picked up a gun that wasn’t his, and “carried out various actions” that resulted in a bullet discharging from the rifle, killing Cpl. Baruch Kabarta a”h.
The soldier was also charged with obstruction of justice after he allegedly tried to dissuade another soldier in the room from talking about the shooting.
The accused soldier confessed to the charge, and both sides requested that he be sentenced to three years in prison, the IDF said.
Additionally, the soldier was ordered to pay compensation to Cpl. Kabarta’s family, which has already been carried out.
According to the IDF, prosecutors told the military court that the punishment was “more severe” than similar cases of deaths from accidental misfires, and it “reflects the severity in which it views the case, and is intended to prevent future disasters of this kind.”
Cpl. Kabarta was killed at the Anatot Base at around midnight between January 2 and 3.
Cpl. Kabarta was 19, came from Petah Tikvah, and served in the Military Police’s Erez Battalion. He was buried at a military cemetery in his hometown.
A commission of inquiry was formed to investigate the incident, and found a number of errors in the conduct of the unit and its commanders.
Seems about right.