An IDF soldier vacationing in Brazil fled to Argentina on Sunday to avoid an arrest warrant issued by the Brazilian Federal Court to investigate him for “war crimes” he allegedly committed in the Gaza Strip.
The Hind Rajab Foundation was behind the allegations, and according to a Saturday report by Brazilian newspaper Metrópoles, the decision was issued by Federal Judge Raquel Soares Charelli during a special session last week.
The Israeli assessment is that the HRF is assisted by an outside state in its pursuits, and the Foreign Ministry received indications of its intent at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The complaint against the soldier was initially filed by the HRF, an international organization that, in its website mission statement, says it is devoted “to breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity.”
The HRF accused the soldier of “participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction.
"These acts are part of a broader effort to impose unbearable living conditions on Palestinian civilians, constituting genocide and crimes against humanity under international law," the accusation on the official HRF website added.
Evidence against the Israeli soldier
The HRF also referred to the evidence that it allegedly has against the soldier, which it said included “video footage, geo-location data, and photographs showing the suspect personally planting explosives and participating in the destruction of entire neighborhoods. These materials prove beyond doubt the suspect’s direct involvement in these heinous acts.”
HRF’s lead lawyer, Maira Pinheiro, addressed the legal aspect of the case: “This is not a case of giving orders from a distance. 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.”
The organization, which has a network of lawyers and activists, has pursued the arrests of several soldiers who fought in Gaza, claiming they conducted “crimes against humanity.” Brazil is only the most recent incident.
After coordination with the IDF, the Foreign Ministry understood the HRF’s goals. Foreign Ministry officials contacted the soldier’s family, while the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zohar Zonshine, contacted the soldier. The Foreign Ministry decided “not to take any risks” and helped the soldier leave the country.
Nearly all war crimes tribunals in modern history have dealt with alleged killings of civilians, not with property destruction.
The crime of genocide – an allegation that even the International Criminal Court has not made against any Israelis to date – relates to mass killing, not property damage.
International law also allows for property damage if deemed militarily necessary, like when enemy forces fight from within civilian locations.
Speaking to Metrópoles, Pinheiro added that the complaint was based on the Rome Statute, which Brazil is a signatory to.
“Since Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute, universal jurisdiction applies within Brazilian territory,” she explained in the report.
“This means that any member country must act to ensure that crimes outlined in the Statute (war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide) are investigated and punished,” she added.
“According to the principle of extraterritoriality, provided in Article 7 of the Brazilian Penal Code, Brazil has jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed abroad when they derive from international treaties, and the perpetrator enters Brazilian territory,” Pinheiro explained.
To date, the ICC has not sought arrest warrants against IDF soldiers but rather against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The reason is that Israel is itself probing alleged war crimes by its soldiers – preventing ICC jurisdiction – whereas it has not yet probed the legality of decisions made by Netanyahu and Gallant.
The Metrópoles report added that there were “more than 500 pages of court documents related to the case,” which it has accessed.
It is unclear how 500 pages of evidence would relate to a handful of videos of the soldier allegedly setting explosives to blow up a structure in Gaza, which may have had a military justification.
Later on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar acted to ensure the man was not in danger.The Foreign Ministry addressed the phenomenon of soldiers posting their activities on social media: “Anti-Israeli entities may exploit such posts” to launch legal campaigns against soldiers.
The accusing organization claimed that the Foreign Ministry was obstructing justice by evacuating the citizens.
Sa’ar, on Sunday, chaired a meeting of a subcommittee of the security cabinet handling the phenomenon of attempts to arrest soldiers. Sa’ar demanded the immediate formulation of regular procedures for cases of this type and the establishment of a hotline for receiving inquiries. He further instructed the establishment of a team to monitor organizations that operate against soldiers abroad.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Sa’ar and the government for mishandling Israeli legitimacy in such a way as to lead to outcomes such as the situation in Brazil.
Lapid has pushed to end the war with Hamas as part of a hostage exchange deal for over half a year and has argued that failing to do so led to powerful legitimacy problems worldwide, including the latest arrest attempt in Brazil.
Sa’ar pushed back, saying that attempted arrests of Israelis go back well over a decade and continued to be a problem even when Lapid was prime minister for around six months in late 2022.
Lapid countered that Sa’ar was spending too much time debating him about the politics of the issue and not enough time working to save Israelis overseas.
While Sa’ar is correct that there have been attempts to arrest Israelis for war crimes dating back around two decades, the latest round of war crimes problems for Israelis is far beyond anything Israel has ever faced before, including the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.