Israeli soldiers face a growing risk of being arrested abroad after their deployment in the Gaza Strip

CNN
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A former Israeli soldier on vacation in Brazil suddenly fled the country after a case was opened against him there alleging he was responsible for war crimes while serving in Gaza.

The case is the latest in a series of lawsuits by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), which has tracked the activities of hundreds of Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, a Brazilian judge ordered police to investigate the soldier, citing a complaint filed by the HRF that accused him of “engaging in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza as part of a systematic campaign of destruction.” be”.

Lawyer Maira Pinheiro, who brought the case on behalf of the Foundation, was quoted in Brazilian media as saying that as a signatory to the Rome Statute, Brazil is obliged to ensure that the crimes envisaged by the Statute (war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide) are committed ) will be investigated and punished.

The HRF is a pro-Palestinian NGO that says it works to “break the cycle of Israeli impunity and honor the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who died in the Gaza Genocide.” Rajab was a five-year-old girl who was killed by Israeli tank fire in her family’s car in Gaza.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that “following an attempt by anti-Israel elements last weekend to investigate a discharged Israeli soldier who was visiting Brazil, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar immediately activated the Foreign Ministry to ensure that the Israeli citizen was not in danger.” “

The Israeli embassy in Brazil ensured “his quick and safe departure from Brazil.”

The State Department added that it had drawn Israelis’ attention to “the posts they posted on social media about their military service and the fact that anti-Israel elements could exploit these posts to bring unfounded legal cases against them.”

HRF has also attempted to detain Israeli soldiers visiting Thailand, Sri Lanka, Chile and other countries, according to its website. In the Sri Lanka case, the organization released a photo of the soldier and said it had appealed to the Sri Lankan authorities, the International Criminal Court and Interpol and called for his arrest over the killing of a civilian in Gaza.

There is no confirmation that any Israeli soldier has been detained or arrested as a result of the cases he initiated.

The Brazilian case has caused political uproar in Israel. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said: “The fact that an Israeli reserve soldier had to flee Brazil in the middle of the night to avoid arrest for fighting in Gaza is a monumental political failure by a government that is simply unable to do so. “Function.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar shot back, saying: “Even the empty Lapid knows that we are witnessing a systematic and anti-Semitic campaign aimed at denying Israel’s right to self-defense. “Countless international actors and many countries are complicit in this.”

Moms Up, a group of Israeli soldiers’ mothers, wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF chief of staff after the case in Brazil, saying: “We see you as solely responsible for eliminating the legal risk we face.” Children.”

It added that the Israeli military “was forced to operate in a political vacuum and under pressure from extremist groups, without the vital legal protections that would protect its soldiers from malicious actors worldwide.”

A former senior official in Israel’s attorney general’s department told CNN that there are increasing attempts abroad to bring charges against Israelis who served in the war, but so far none have resulted in an arrest or trial.

He said that unlike before, activist groups were targeting ordinary soldiers rather than high-ranking officers and politicians. The lawyer declined to be named for this report.

The Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, will discuss on Monday the measures being taken against Israeli soldiers around the world.