Yuval Vagdani, 21, the IDF reservist who fled Brazil to avoid an arrest warrant, has landed back in Israel, according to Israeli media on Wednesday.
The Brazilian Federal Court sought to investigate him for “war crimes” he allegedly committed in the Gaza Strip, based on a complaint by the Hind Rajab Foundation.
Vagdani survived the Nova massacre and served in the Givati Brigade's Tzabar Battalion. After being discharged, he chose to travel to Brazil with three friends, N12 reported. During his trip, he received an urgent message from the Israeli consulate about the arrest warrant, and the friends were able to leave for Argentina the same night.
After this, the group were taken to Miami with the help of the Israeli foreign ministry.
Upon arriving back in Israel, Vagdani told reporters he would "not return to Brazil again."
"I will not forget the difficult experience I went through," he added, "however, they will not break me, I am strong."
Vagdani said he hoped other soldiers would learn from his story after seeing what happened to him.
The father of one of Vagdani's friends told N12 "I told them to flee immediately, not to stay there even for another moment. The moment they got the call from the consulate, they started looking for a way to leave Brazil. By 5:00 a.m., we received a message that they had successfully crossed the border."
HRF complaint
The HRF's complaint, which was 500 pages long, accused the soldier of “participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction."
HRF’s lead lawyer, Maira Pinheiro, said “This individual actively contributed to the destruction of homes and livelihoods, and his own statements and behavior clearly align with the genocidal objectives in Gaza.”
HRF obtained evidence from Vagdani's social media posts.