A soldier who had mistaken a teenager with special needs for a potential terrorist and killed him in May of 2020, sent a letter to Yair Lapid in which he referred to a speech the Prime Minister gave at an Army graduation ceremony. He wrote, "I am acting as a lead actor in an international play. My commanders said in the field that I acted correctly. You have said that soldiers have the backing of the government. I expect this backing." Many in Israel believe the border patrol agent is being offered up as a 'sacrificial lamb' to appease anti-Israel protesters who seized on recent events to protest the Jewish State. 

Lapid delivered the speech after criticism came from the United States along with a request to change the Israel Defense Forces' engagement policies after the death of Al-Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Aqla.  The border patrol officer, referred to as 'A' in Israel over concerns for the safety of him and his family, is on trial for killing the disturbed boy in Jerusalem in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, heard Lapid's speech and responded to the Prime Minister in a letter that was published by several media outlets.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I am the fighter who is on trial just so that we can appease critics abroad," wrote ‘A’, whose identity is concealed to protect his family. ‘A’ enlisted as a fighter at the beginning of 2020 and finished his mandatory service a few weeks ago.

"In May 2020, my world turned upside down forever. I responded after two police officers identified and reported an armed terrorist near the Lions' Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was behaving strangely and moving suddenly," noted ‘A’. "I sensed danger to myself and the citizens who were around him and acted, in the few seconds I had, to neutralize the threat. Unfortunately, it turned out that in the incident Eyad Al-Hallaq, who has special needs and was on the autistic spectrum, was killed. I had no way of knowing his identity. I carried out the shooting exactly as I was taught And they expected of me in basic training."

‘A’ added: "A moment later, a flood of fake news began, reports claiming Al-Khalak was accompanied by a female guide, or that he presented legal documents to me. Reports went as far as claiming that I shot him straight in the head at point-blank range. My commanders told me at the time that I did the right thing, that based on video and eyewitness accounts, I acted according to my training. The result is sad and unfortunate, it will be with me for the rest of my life; unfortunately, this is our reality. Then an indictment for the reckless death came," said ‘A’, noting that "the maximum penalty is 12 years in prison."

Israeli officer who killed Eyad al-Hallaq charged with reckless manslaughter https://t.co/j8cr68jkRe pic.twitter.com/GHzsULPGxp

— Mondoweiss (@Mondoweiss) June 20, 2021

"My world turned upside down, my family crushed, in every sense," explained ‘A’. I am under constant threats for fear that those spreading lies will hurt me, so my identity is confidential and I have to go to court with a sack on my head covering my face. Demonstrators against me have literally dug a grave for me and turned me into a murderer."

‘A” finished up his letter to the president with a personal analogy of the public relations at hand. "For more than two years now, I have been acting, without a choice, as the main actor in an international show, just so that Israel looks better in the eyes of the world. In the Palestinian Authority, perhaps Israel is applauded, and also in some other hostile and righteous countries. But my family and I are here crying over this horrendous injustice. The message sent here is a serious one for a lot of fighters who are afraid to shoot in real-time. Are you willing to lose the good of our sons just so we can be portrayed well?”

The office of Machash, the Police Investigations Unit in Jerusalem, has just been covered with the face of Eyad al-Hallaq, killed 3 months ago by police.

Hundreds protested outside the building this evening, calling for justice for his family and all victims of police violence. pic.twitter.com/SheWE0kOU7

— Ben Reiff (@bentreyf) September 2, 2020

According to reports, al-Hallaq was walking with his teacher through the Lion's Gate checkpoint in the old city when he failed to respond to requests for him to stop. As he passed through the gate's arches, he reached into his jacket pocket and the border patrol asked him to stop and put his hands up. Instead, al-Hallaq ran and hid in a maintenance room where old city residents put their garbage. After numerous requests to comply, border patrol agents opened fire, killing Eyad. After several weeks of investigating, during which daily protests in Israel and abroad called for the arrest of the officers involved, prosecutors charged 'A' with manslaughter.

Israeli channel 14 describing Israeli policeman as "a fighter who neutralised a terrorist 2 years ago". The so-called "terrorist" is autistic Palestinian Eyad al-Hallaq - an innocent man who was walking to his work center and was murdered by this policeman. pic.twitter.com/om5aybEqX6

— JeruSalem Yahoodi 🇵🇸 (@Looking4Gavin) August 30, 2022

Many in the country believe the prosecutors caved into pressure. In Israel, the border patrol officers are under the authority of the Israel Police, not the Israel Defense Forces. Despite the patrol working hand-in-hand with the IDF, they have separate rules of engagement. Soldiers in the IDF typically have many restrictions and procedures governing the use of fire, border patrol also have some restrictions, however, analysts say that 'A' apparently followed them, but was charged anyway, leading to the accusation that the arrest and trial was a response to international criticism.