JERUSALEM — When video emerged last week of an Israeli soldier apparently shooting a wounded Palestinian protester in the head, killing him instantly, the condemnation was almost instantaneous — from within and without Israel.

The unidentified soldier was charged with murder. The army spoke out against the act. Palestinian officials and many Israelis joined the chorus of revulsion over what appeared to many to be a gratuitous act of vengeance.

But in the week since, new evidence has emerged and there has been a reassessment among many Israelis. Reaction to the shooting has broken down along familiar lines, with a poll showing substantial support for the soldier among Jewish Israelis and with thousands — especially on the political right — taking to social media and the streets to demonstrate their support for him. On Thursday, the murder charge was downgraded to manslaughter.

The mood in Israel is in stark contrast to that of the West Bank, where Palestinian leaders have condemned the latest shooting and called for a United Nations investigation into extrajudicial executions.The initial video of the incident was captured by a Palestinian activist and supplied to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.

It shows the aftermath of an attack March 24 in which two Palestinian men stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Another soldier shot them both, killing one and wounding Fatah Sharif, 21.

When the situation had calmed and Sharif had been incapacitated, the video shows, he is lying on the ground, alive but offering no resistance.

A van blocks the view momentarily, but a gunshot can be heard. When the van moves on, it becomes apparent that an Israeli soldier had fatally shot Sharif in the head.

Days later, however, Israel's Army Radio published a separate video on its website that suggested the soldiers may have feared the Palestinian had a bomb.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, someone slightly out of the frame can be heard saying, “He apparently has an explosive on him, pay attention!” Four seconds later, one of the paramedics carrying the wounded soldier — a man who 20 seconds earlier had said, “That terrorist is still alive, the dog. Don't let him get up!”— then cries in panic, “He's alive. Somebody do something!”

The soldier charged in the shooting has not been officially identified. Lawyers representing the soldier said he acted to save his colleagues because he believed that Sharif could have been wearing explosives.

However, the soldier did not warn other soldiers standing nearby, and there has been debate about whether his shot could have detonated any explosives.