He Killed a Palestinian Teen, Now He’s Receiving an Honorary Doctorate for Israeli Heroism

The army boots peek out from under the black gown, each head sports a black mortarboard. These are the recipients of an honorary doctorate from Reichman University in 2024, awarded this year “in recognition of “Israeli heroism”: a dime-store propagandist (Noa Tishby); the commander of a tank company (Capt. Karni Gez); a founder of Brothers and Sisters in Arms (Eyal Naveh); a leader of the Gaza-border communities (Haim Jelin) and Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer, commander of the 146th Division.

Shomer was cited for having “devoted many years to the strength and security of the State of Israel.” According to the university’s website, “The honor is bestowed upon individuals whose actions exemplify the values of Zionism, entrepreneurship, social responsibility and academic integrity, and in recognition of their impactful contributions to the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and Reichman University.”

• Death Penalty for Stone Throwing
• In a single hour, Israeli snipers killed seven bystanders at the Jenin refugee camp
• Waning int’l legitimacy, an exhausted army and war in Lebanon will push Israel to the edge

Flashback: Friday morning, July 3, 2015, Qalandiyah checkpoint in the West Bank. The traffic moves slowly. A Palestinian teenager approaches the car of Binyamin Brigade commander Col. Yisrael Shomer, hurls a large rock into the windshield and flees. No one was hurt. The future honorary doctor’s blood boils; he gets out of his car and gives chase.

The brigade commander fires three bullets from a range of six to seven meters into the back of the fleeing boy, who falls bleeding and dies soon afterward in the hospital. The death penalty for throwing a rock. Before speeding away, the brigade commander took the time to turn over his victim’s body with his foot to check his condition, the way one turns over a dead animal, without calling for medical help.

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