First Sergeant Yonatan Granot, 22 years old from Kibbutz Einat, a commander in the “Bazelet” battalion of the Nahal, was accidentally shot by Sergeant M in the Tevez camp in the Jordan Valley.
A Nahal Brigade soldier known only as Segeant M. has been sentenced to 26 months in prison for the shooting and accidental killing of his company mate Sergeant Yonatan Granot in February 2021 at a base in the Jordan Valley.
He will also pay a fine of NIS 12,000 which will be divided into in several installments due to his and his family’s difficult financial situation. In addition, M., who has been in a difficult mental state since the incident, will be demoted to the rank of private.
“Even on this day, he and his family would like to send their condolences to the family of the late Yonatan Granot, who was M’s best friend,” Attorney Ran Cohen Rochbarger, who represents the soldier, said after the verdict.
“They were close friends, commander and subordinate, and this terrible tragedy torments M. to this day. He suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder, takes medication and sends his condolences to the family.”
M.’s identity is still subject to a gag order, and he was released from the army for mental health reasons, among other things, following the incident.
Investigation of the fatal shooting
The investigation into the death revealed that the soldier fired a bullet from a Ruger rifle that had been used at the ranges a short time before, and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi accepted the conclusions of the investigative committee team which determined that the direct cause of the accident was the soldier who fired a weapon he was unfamiliar with and was not authorized to use. These claims were also presented by the military prosecution, and the court accepted them.
Kohavi then pointed out that the findings of the investigation highlighted a series of gaps in the level of discipline, professionalism and unit culture in training preparation and in the company’s routine.
The committee found several faults and errors in the conduct of the unit and commanders during the event.
First, the unloading of the weapons by the platoon commander was done in a manner that does not comply with professional and safety instructions.
In addition, the decision to leave the rifle under the guard of the company sentinel was wrong and the soldier did not fulfill his mission by not preventing M. from taking the weapon and firing it. In addition, the chain of reporting to the commanding and professional authorities at the time of the incident was not reliable and fast enough.
The military prosecution sought to convict M. of Reckless homicide throughout the evidence trial, which was fully conducted, after the parties did not reach an agreement regarding a plea deal.
This is a serious offense for which the maximum penalty is up to 12 years in prison. It was included in the law book as a lower rank than the crime of manslaughter, the maximum penalty of which is up to 20 years in prison.
First Sergeant Yonatan Garnot, 22 years old from Kibbutz Einat, a commander in the “Bazelet” battalion of the Nahal, was accidentally shot by Sergeant M in the Tevez camp in the Jordan Valley, mortally wounded and died of his wounds three days later in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post