Jerusalem, Jan. 5, 2017… The ADL harshly condemned today the incitement directed at the Chief of Staff and a Judge in Sgt. Elor Azaria’s trial.

Incendiary posts and comments on social media against Colonel Maya Heller, the judge in the trial, have been published since the verdict was announced on Wednesday.  Among the invective directed at Colonel Heller was “Nazi” and calls for her family to be killed in a terror attack.  There were threats against the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot, with demonstrators chanting:  “Gadi watch out, Rabin is looking for a friend,” referring to the assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL and Carol Nuriel, Director of the Israeli office of the ADL, issued the following statement:

“We harshly condemn the recent incitement against Israeli authorities, specifically the IDF, after the trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria. Proper procedure was followed in this case and it was rightly before the court.  We are troubled by the incendiary discourse since the announcement of the verdict, characterized by anti-democratic language and threats.  Israel’s democracy and its judicial system are forces of morality and stability for the State and shouldn’t be jeopardized or undermined.