Israel launches criminal probe after soldier photographed striking Jesus statue in Lebanon
Netanyahu issues rare apology amid fragile border ceasefire, a single image creates a diplomatic problem
Images
The Israeli army said the ‘soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops’. Photograph: X
theguardian.com
Guido Crosetto, Italy’s minister of defence, seen here in November last year, was highly critical of the incident. Photograph: Fabian Sommer/AP
theguardian.com
The Israeli military said it would open a criminal investigation after confirming the authenticity of a photograph showing an Israeli soldier striking a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon.
According to the Guardian, the image appears to show a soldier hitting the head of a crucified Jesus figure that had fallen from a cross in the village of Debl, a predominantly Christian community near the Israeli border. The Israel Defense Forces said the soldier had been identified, though not named publicly, and described the conduct as inconsistent with expected standards. Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare public apology, saying he was “stunned and saddened” and promising “harsh disciplinary action”.
The episode lands in a part of the war that Israel has tried to frame as a security campaign against Hezbollah rather than a conflict with Lebanon’s wider society. A desecration allegation in a Christian village complicates that distinction, because it creates a story that does not depend on battlefield claims—only on a single photograph and the chain of command’s response. The IDF said it was working with local people to restore the statue, a detail that signals the incident has become a diplomatic problem as much as a disciplinary one.
The reaction from abroad was immediate. Italy’s defence minister Guido Crosetto called the act “unacceptable and unjustifiable”, the Guardian reported, while senior Catholic figures used the incident to warn about a broader degradation of norms. The Vatican and Rome have already been in a more public dispute with Israel in recent weeks, including a confrontation over access to holy sites in Jerusalem.
The political cost is not limited to Europe. The Guardian noted anger among US evangelicals, a constituency that has historically provided Israel with unusually durable support. When a war produces images that read as contempt for Christian symbols, the damage is reputational and travels faster than any official clarification.
The IDF said the statue’s restoration is being coordinated locally. The only confirmed physical damage so far is to Israel’s relationship with a village it has to live next to when the ceasefire paperwork expires.
The photograph was taken in Debl. The soldier has been identified. The investigation is now formal.