JERUSALEM, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The Jerusalem Magistrate's Courton Tuesday convicted David Edri, a former police horseman, for assaulting a settler during the violent evacuation of the West Bank settlement of Amona in 2006.

    According to the charge sheet, the police deployed mass forces at Amona, including officers of the mounted Police. During police attempts to clear protesters, Edri charged on his horse at settler Yehuda Etzion, knocked him over and trampled him. Etzion sustained many wounds, including on his head.

    The court ruled that Edri's actions constituted exercising excessive force, especially since the act was aimed at a single person.

    "Galloping at the complainant was unnecessary, it wasn't to prevent an attack on policemen, nor was it needed in order to evacuate the outpost or for any other end," the judge's verdict said.

    Edri said he would appeal the verdict.

    Israeli security forces demolished the illegal outpost of Amonaon Feb. 1, 2006, as the then acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had targeted 24 West Bank settlement outposts for removal. But thousands of police and soldiers met with a salvo of rocks and paint bottles and were cursed as they violently clashed with right-wing activists during the evacuation and demolishment.

    It was described as a worst violence among Jews in recent years.

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts