The Israeli news site Ynet has published a guide for Israeli soldiers to help them avoid arrest for potential war crimes while traveling abroad.
The guide comes after an Israeli soldier visiting Brazil fled the country over an order from a Brazilian court to investigate him for potential war crimes based on social media posts that showed the destruction of Palestinian homes.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, named after a five-year-old girl killed by the IDF in Gaza, said the soldier had participated in “massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction.”
Israeli soldiers have been documenting war crimes in posts on social media, a practice the Israeli government is now advising against following the incident in Brazil. Israeli media has reported that pro-Palestinian organizations have filed 50 complaints in courts around the world against Israeli soldiers.
The guide from Ynet, which quoted Nick Kaufmann, a defense lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC), also advised Israeli soldiers not to post as much on social media.
“Soldiers should avoid posting photos or videos from their service, especially content showing destroyed buildings, even if there’s a military justification,” Kaufmann said.
“Such posts violate operational security and could harm Israel’s image. Some countries might treat seemingly minor content, such as racist songs, as incitement to genocide,” Kaufmann added.
He said the problem for Israeli soldiers was countries that have adopted the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” which allows the arrest, investigation, and potential prosecution of people accused of war crimes or other human rights violations in other countries.
“The list of countries applying universal jurisdiction changes over time. Even friendly nations like the UK, France, and Spain have applied it in the past,” Kaufman said.
Kaufman warned that the problem could get worse for Israeli soldiers after the conflict is over if foreign journalists are allowed into Gaza. “The threat may not diminish and could even intensify as Gaza opens to human rights groups and foreign journalists,” he said.
So a lawyer at the frelling International Criminal Court is telling them how to evade prosecution??? WTactualF?
When I was in Peru there were four groups of foreigners who traveled in groups, Americans (who were mostly in big tour groups), Japanese, French and Israelis, and the Israelis were BY FAR the worst tourists of any foreigners. Americans and Japanese were mostly just ignorant, and French were rude but adaptable, but the Israelis went out of their way to be offensive to everyone who wasn't either another Israeli or a local Jew.
He is a defense lawyer at the court, obviously for Israel.
>and the Israelis were BY FAR the worst tourists of any foreigners
Indeed. Remember when the tsunami hit Thailand in 2004 and tourists died on the beach. All affected countries sent people to help with carrying the thousands of bodies away from the beach.
Except the Israeli team. They ignored everyone else and went out on the beach, turning over dead bodies and then leaving them, only looking for the ones who looked Israeli. Their bodies must not be allowed to be mixed with filthy non-Izzies.
Everyone was shocked by their disgusting behavior. But you didn't see that in the news.
How did you know who was an Israeli? How did you know who was a local Jew?
They told us. Duh.
I hope that it won't be long before the advice becomes, "If you are an IDF soldier who participated in the slaughter in Gaza, there is no place outside Israel where you are safe from arrest."
I remember last spring in a language activity I participate in, a guy signed up several times until he was banned because he never showed up. But he signed up with a profile saying he was from Israel. Except he had an American-sounding name, but his picture looked Israeli. So he had probably changed his nationality to Israel in the profile.
No Israeli had ever signed up before. The call had obviously gone out that they should make themselves visible. "Get out there, tell people you're from Israel, be proud, explain how we are the victims!" Except he was obviously born in the U.S. so he couldn't actually show up at the meetings.
They obviously know what people think about them. This is the Gaza holocaust. Doctors say they have never seen so many killed children in any war zone. Shot in the head and the chest to kill a people's future. If that guy had shown up at a meeting, it would have been time to ditch the no-politics rule. Because he would definitely have ditched it himself first. They love to talk about how the Israelis are the victims in Israel.
That's just a start…!
Soldiers most likely won't stop this because their egos don't allow it…!
IDF is going to be confined to Israeli beaches only versus the beaches of other countries…!
They should go hide in Argentina like the Nazis did after World War 2.. Milei is a big supporter of Israel.
So the Israeli government is advising its soldiers to not document their war crimes on social media. When will the Israeli government direct its soldiers to stop commiting war crimes instead? Errr, the question here is indeed rhetorical; it is Israeli government policy to commit war crimes in the first place.
Nick Kaufman uses the negative word "threat" not for what his fellow Israelis are doing to their victims, but for when more evidence is revealed.
This guide is most likely made by IDF and distributed via Ynet to save face…!
What is "potential? Perhaps now people can be prosecuted without evidence,or for suspicions,for thought crimes. If collective punishment is wrong for Palestinian,and it is,should it not be wrong for Israelis?
But you claim it’s not wrong for Palestinians.
There is going to be a new industry, and that industry will be the War Criminal Search industry! Just like Palestinians being slaughtered have no place to run or hide, former IDF murderers will be hunted in their own nation! Many of these war criminals will have to face themselves in the mirror and will be victim to suicides.