 He also condemned Azaria's actions during the incident.On 1 January 2017, Azaria's defense team wrote a letter to Lieberman in which it asked for a state investigation into the trial, claiming that due process had been compromised.They cited public comments made after the shooting by IDF Chief of Staff Eizenkot, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit and then-Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, as well as the fact that Azaria was not present for the preliminary operational review following the incident.