Brigade Commander who last July shot a rock thrower who attacked his car gets vindicated in investigation, which was spurred by B'Tselem.

The chief military prosecutor has decided to close the investigation against Binyamin Brigade Commander Col. Yisrael Shomer, who last July 3 shot dead an Arab rock thrower who attacked his car as he drove through Kalandiya in northeastern Jerusalem.

The IDF, along with other Israeli officials, had initially backed Shomer over his actions, noting the danger to his life in the attack as the rock smashed the windshield and penetrated into the car. Similar rock attacks have caused death in numerous cases, such as in the murder of Alexander Levlovitz last September.

But after the radical leftist NGO B'Tselem released video of the incident it pressured the IDF to launch an investigation into the shooting of the terrorist Mohammed al-Kasbeh.

Coincidentally video filmed by B'Tselem activists also spurred the investigation of another soldier who is currently charged with manslaughter, after he shot a wounded terrorist in Hevron three weeks ago over concerns he was going to detonate a bomb belt.

In response to the rock attack, Shomer exited the vehicle and followed IDF procedure to apprehend a terrorist, calling out a warning and shooting in the air before firing twice while aiming for the terrorist's legs.

In the investigation, it was found that Shomer shot at the terrorist's legs while he was in motion and not while standing still, and therefore his shots were not precise and killed the terrorist.

The Military Advocate General (MAG) found that the gunshots were justified in the circumstances of the incident, and were meant to facilitate the attacker's arrest.

It was also found that firing while not in a static position fell within the scope of a professional error, but one made due to clear operational circumstances.

As a result the MAG found that the shots did not breach criminal law and do not justify legal steps against the officer.