Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin has refused to pardon a soldier who was given 18 months in jail on manslaughter charges for shooting a wounded Palestinian assailant in the head at point-blank range.

Then 19-year-old Elor Azaria, an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) medic, shot 21-year-old Abdel Fattah al-Sharif when he lay wounded on the ground in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after he and an accomplice attacked two soldiers in March 2016.

Azaria was given 18 months in jail, a sentence which was reduced to 14 months following an intervention in September by Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot.

Palestinian man shot by Israeli soldier as he lies on the ground

The landmark case – the first manslaughter prosecution for a serving member of the IDF in more than a decade – split public opinion in Israel. There is widespread support for the IDF in Israel, where at least two years of military service is compulsory.

There have been several fundraisers and protests in support of the soldier, as well as high-profile calls for the young recruit to be given a pardon by the government, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Palestinians and human rights activists, however, have widely criticised Azaria’s punishment as not harsh enough for the severity of his crime.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada The proclamation of the state of Israel is read by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on 14 May 1948 © EPA Israel: From independence to intifada Sixty years on, an illuminated flag is shown in Tel Aviv this week © PA Israel: From independence to intifada Young Jews celebrate the proclamation of the state of Israel in 1948 © AFP/Getty Images Israel: From independence to intifada Palestinian children throw stones at a retreating Israeli tank during an incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin in August 2003 following a suicide bombing in Jerusalem © AP Israel: From independence to intifada How Israel's borders have changed - click image to enlarge © Independent Graphics Israel: From independence to intifada From 1948-50, the world's mostcelebrated war photographer Robert Capa captured extraordinary imagesof Israel's pioneering settlers. Here, Turkish immigrants arrive in Haifa © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada The Negba kibbutz, where the walls have been damaged by shells fired during the Israeli-Arab war © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum

The deceased man’s father noted that while manslaughter is punishable under Israeli law by up to 20 years in prison, Azaria’s sentence was less harsh than the mandatory minimum penalty of four years in prison some Palestinian children have faced for throwing stones.

Azaria submitted a formal pardon request last month.

“President Reuven Rivlin today took the decision to deny the request for a pardon filed by Elor Azaria,” the president's office said in a statement issued on Sunday.