Knesset to hold urgent meeting over Brazil's investigation into IDF soldier

The discussion follows the Brazilian authorities' demand to investigate an IDF soldier for alleged war crimes. The classified session is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 5, 2025 10:11 Updated: JANUARY 5, 2025 10:14

Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein leads a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on May 8, 2024 (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuli Edelstein announced on Sunday that an urgent meeting will be held on Monday to address the legal persecution of IDF soldiers abroad.

The discussion follows the Brazilian authorities' demand to investigate an IDF soldier for alleged war crimes. The classified session is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

“For months, the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and I have repeatedly warned that the legal persecution under false accusations of war crimes would not stop with the prime minister and the defense minister but would inevitably target IDF soldiers as well,” Edelstein said. “I am embarrassed for Brazil and its government for capitulating to pro-Palestinian legal terrorism. I expect to hear from IDF and Foreign Ministry representatives about their action plan to defend our soldiers from these malicious sanctions and persecutions.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid commented on the development on X/Twitter, saying, "The fact that an Israeli reserve soldier had to flee Brazil in the dead of night to avoid arrest for fighting in Gaza highlights a staggering diplomatic failure by an irresponsible government that simply doesn’t know how to govern. How did we reach the point where “the Palestinians are outperforming the Israeli government on the international stage”?"

העובדה שחייל מילואים ישראלי נאלץ להמלט מברזיל באישון לילה כדי שלא ייעצר בגלל שנלחם בעזה היא כשלון מדיני אדיר של ממשלה חסרת אחריות שפשוט לא יודעת לעבוד. איך הגענו למצב שהפלשתינים טובים יותר מממשלת ישראל בזירה הבינלאומית? ועדת חקירה ממלכתית שתגן עלינו משפטית מצד אחד, ומערך הסברה…

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) January 5, 2025

"A state inquiry committee to provide legal protection and an efficient, coordinated public diplomacy strategy could have prevented incidents like this. IDF soldiers—whether active or reserve—should never have to fear traveling abroad because they might be arrested," Lapid concluded.

Brazil orders the investigation

The Brazilian Federal Court ordered its police to investigate an Israeli soldier vacationing in Brazil on account of "war crimes" he allegedly committed in the Gaza Strip, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) announced on Friday. 

According to a report by the Brazilian newspaper Metrópoles on Saturday, the decision was issued by Federal Judge Raquel Soares Charelli during a special session last week on Monday.

The soldier has since gotten on a flight and left Brazil, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

The complaint against the Israeli soldier was initially filed by the HRF, an international organization that, on its website mission statement, says is devoted "to breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity."

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The HRF accused the Israeli soldier of "participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction.

KESHET NEEV contributed to this report.