Fears grow among Israeli forces over risk of arrest in intl. travels after soldier flees Brazil

The escape from Brazil of an Israeli soldier accused of committing war crimes in Gaza has reignited fears of prosecution abroad among the Israeli forces and their families.

“Moms Up,” a group of Israeli soldiers’ mothers, has written to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military chief of staff following the case in Brazil, pleading for help to escape justice.

“We see you as the sole responsible party for removing the legal risk facing our children.”

Reports said on Sunday that the soldier, a reservist who was vacationing in Brazil, managed to leave the Latin American country, despite a court order.

The Israeli foreign ministry on Sunday admitted that the Israeli embassy in Brazil had orchestrated “his swift and safe departure from Brazil.”

Last week, a Brazilian judge ordered police to investigate the soldier, accusing him of “participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction.”

The case is the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), which has been pursuing justice for the Palestinian victims of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The group has filed several complaints in various countries against Israeli forces who participated in the genocidal war on Gaza. It also filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Israeli soldiers.

The Brazilian case has also caused a political furor in Israel, with the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, saying, “The fact that an Israeli reserve soldier had to flee Brazil in the middle of the night to avoid being arrested for fighting in Gaza is a monumental political failure" of the current Israeli administration "that is simply incapable of functioning.”

The so-called foreign affairs and security committee in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, will discuss the complaints filed against Israeli soldiers around the world on Monday.

Israeli soldier flees Brazil amid probe into Gaza war crimes

A Brazilian court has ordered the police to investigate the Israeli soldier, who committed multiple crimes in Gaza.

Dozens of complaints filed

Israeli media on Monday reported that pro-Palestinian organizations have filed 50 complaints in courts around the world against Israeli soldiers accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.

“About 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers, 10 of which have been investigated without any arrests recorded so far,” the KAN broadcaster said.

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Belgium, France, and Brazil were among the countries in which the complaints have been filed.

Last month, Israeli soldiers involved in the genocidal war on Gaza were urged to refrain from posting war photos over fears of prosecution abroad.

“Do not post a picture of yourself in the battlefields of Gaza or elsewhere. Do not even post at all on social media,” an account on X which claims to be affiliated with Israeli spy agency Mossad wrote.

Israel launched the genocidal war, which has so far killed at least 45,805 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 109,064 others, since October 7, 2023.

In November, the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.”

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on the besieged strip.

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