The Military Prosecution on Thursday morning officially served an indictment for manslaughter against the soldier who shot dead an injured terrorist in Hevron last month.

The indictment requests an extension of the soldier’s remand under “open arrest” at his base. Defense attorneys petitioned the judge to release their client entirely, insisting he does not pose a flight risk.

It is notable that the judges indicated they will accept the indictment despite reservations over the quality of evidence presented by prosecutors.

Earlier this week, the soldier testified in court, and described how he though he heard someone “shouting ‘be careful, has a bomb on him!’ and I saw he had a big black coat on him.

“I thought: that’s it. I began to think of all those videos of Hamas terrorists saying they intended to carry out ‘qualitative attacks’, potentially suicide attacks.

“His coat was large and furry, on a really hot, sunny day – 30 degrees (Celsius),” he noted, adding that the though of “all those (propaganda) videos caused me to take the decision – which really was not simple – in a split-second; I cocked the weapon, told everyone to move and shot him once in the head.”

“If he did have an explosive belt and he did explode, what would have happened? How many dead would there have been? People would have asked why no one thought to confirm the neutralization. And that is what I did; I confirmed the neutralization.”