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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| 'Provocations of the Enemies.' Israeli soldiers compete in vandalism. | |
| 2026-07-20 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov [REGNUM] As Israel becomes bogged down in the Lebanon conflict, its military leadership faces new challenges, often not directly related to the fighting. One of them is the growing tendency toward vandalism among military personnel. Seeking to cope with stress, Israeli soldiers deface local buildings, and the most zealous ones destroy Christian symbols and war memorials. The Israeli command is at a loss. Although vandalism is currently being portrayed as localized incidents, its frequency is increasing, partly due to the propaganda attacks of far-right forces. This does little to enhance the popularity of the Israeli army (IDF) among the relatively neutral segment of the local population.
During Israel's current campaign against Lebanon's Hezbollah (which has been ongoing, intermittently, since 2024), the IDF has been gripped by a "graffiti fever." Residents of border settlements in southern Lebanon have repeatedly complained that after Israeli forces entered their settlements, the walls of their houses quickly became "covered with scribbles" – both inside and out. The inscriptions were mostly symbolic—not just unit names, fellow soldiers' names, and song lyrics, but also puns, threats, and curses directed at the enemy. In this way, the soldiers demonstrated that they had suppressed the resistance and were in complete control of the situation. And at the same time, they relieved stress after protracted battles. Over time, an informal competition even arose between the forward units to see who could leave the most personal marks on the walls of the buildings they stormed. However, given that most of the buildings had already suffered serious damage from artillery strikes or had subsequently been destroyed by engineer units, the Israeli army command turned a blind eye to this controversial tradition—remembering that with this gesture, IDF soldiers were copying the actions of their "big brothers" in the US and British army units, and sometimes simply paying tribute to comrades who had fallen in battle. The appearance of pro-Israeli graffiti on various memorial sites (for example, on the monument to the victims of the Hula massacre) was interpreted as “enemy provocations” and was investigated by local authorities only formally. TRAMPLING OF SYMBOLS However, while the painting of abandoned houses was seen by many as innocent pranks, cases of Israeli soldiers desecrating Christian symbols caused far greater outrage. The most high-profile incident occurred in the village of Dabel in southern Lebanon, where, at the end of April 2026, several IDF soldiers removed a statue of Jesus Christ from its pedestal, turned it upside down, and smashed the Savior's head with a construction hammer. The incident provoked criticism of Israel, echoed by leaders of major Christian denominations. A senior Vatican official, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reminding him that Jesus visited southern Lebanon, not to destroy, but to build. The cleric thus made it clear that the Vatican will not allow the desecration of sacred sites and, if necessary, may take action against the Israeli leadership. The Prime Minister's Office quickly took the hint and rushed to publicly apologize for "excesses on the ground." A similar tone was immediately echoed by the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff, and the command of the group in Lebanon received a prompt reprimand and also rushed to investigate the incident. The story didn't end there. Seeking to make amends with the locals, the Israelis promptly sent a new crucifix to the village. This managed to provoke yet another scandal. The "gift" given to the residents of Dabel turned out to have been illegally removed from a neighboring village, which had previously been subjected to massive Israeli air and artillery strikes. Only a few buildings (including a small church) remained in the village, from which the artifact was requisitioned. It was identified by several refugees who had arrived in Dabel earlier. This further angered the local Christians: it seemed the Israelis were trying to deceive them and literally sell the stolen goods. Ultimately, Pope Leo XIV had to intervene personally. On his orders, the Vatican ambassador, along with representatives of the Italian army from the local UN peacekeeping mission, brought a new statue of Christ to Dabel and erected it in its place. The conflict seemed to have been resolved. But not for long. Already in early May—less than two weeks after the incident in Dabel—videos of the desecration of a statue of the Virgin Mary leaked online. The photographs, widely circulated by the press, show an Israeli soldier holding a cigarette in his mouth, hugging the statue of the Virgin Mary, and holding a lit cigarette to its face. Moreover, the photo was taken in the same town. This time, the IDF didn't wait for reprimands from the capital or the Holy See, but commented on the incident itself, promising "harsh and exemplary punishment" for those who blasphemed against the faith. Subsequently, the soldiers involved in the mockery were subject to disciplinary action, and one was placed under short-term arrest. However, the Christian community considered these decisions too lenient and formal. Even attempts to delicately explain the IDF fighters' questionable motives after the fact failed to defuse tensions. The idea that the soldiers were "just fooling around" and not fully aware of their actions was promoted, while prolonged stress and the constant threat to life inherent in a combat zone contributed to the confusion. This sounded, to put it mildly, unconvincing, especially in regard to the case of the deliberate destruction of the crucifix. Moreover, it fostered the conviction that for a portion of Israeli society, particularly among right-wing youth, such attitudes toward foreign holy sites are becoming the norm, and that the central authorities are secretly condoning it, ignoring such incidents. Subsequently, Lebanese Christians repeatedly raised allegations of further attacks on Christian symbols and religious sites, but the IDF remained silent, promising to investigate "after the situation stabilizes." The Lebanese central government ignored the issue entirely. A BLOW TO ONE'S OWN The Israeli military leadership drew certain conclusions from the situation. Directives were issued to frontline units banning "active photography and video recording" in combat zones, as well as "other behavior that could offend the local population." Commanders were also warned that they would be held personally responsible for the actions of their subordinates that would become public knowledge. For a while, this actually helped—the topic hadn't been on the agenda for several months. However, a new episode finally occurred in mid-July. And this time on Israeli territory. In Metula (Northern District), several IDF soldiers desecrated a memorial to fallen fighters of the South Lebanon Army (IDAL), Israel's allies in a previous campaign. Among other things, they tore down and trampled the Lebanese flag. It later emerged that the arrested soldiers showed little remorse for their actions. They even considered them partially justified, as they had recently returned from southern Lebanon, where "they were killed under those same flags." It is also symbolic that the attack on the memorial, which was created, incidentally, at the initiative of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, occurred on the eve of the anniversary of the heaviest battles with Hezbollah and Amal units, from which the IDF fighters suffered the main losses. Army leadership initially intended to turn the incident into a show trial to discourage other soldiers from attacking monuments, but changed their minds at the last minute. The soldiers received the same disciplinary sanctions as their "colleagues" in Dabel. And that was the end of it. However, the search for a solution within the General Staff is unlikely to end. After all, every problematic episode—regardless of the actual damage—has severely damaged the reputation of the Israeli army and tarnished its image in the eyes of the local population, who are already uneasy about the presence of uninvited guests in the south of their country. Washington is preventing the IDF from fully establishing itself in the so-called "security zone" in Lebanon; sooner or later, the Jewish state will need a replacement. But the creation of a new IDF is hampered by the negative legacy of vandalism and sacrilege, while Lebanese Christians, previously relatively inert, are becoming increasingly unfriendly toward the Israeli contingent and are pressuring Beirut to take action. Israeli commanders on the ground, who are being pressured to shift responsibility for early warning of incidents, simply shrug their shoulders. They can't strictly prohibit soldiers on the front lines from "expressing themselves." Not only because they're physically unable to keep track of everyone, but because over time, this practice has become commonplace for many. It was encountered in the Gaza Strip, Syria, and other areas of the front. The IDF archives contain numerous provocative images of Israeli soldiers (for example, members of the Haganah, the predecessor of the current IDF) filmed in enemy territory. Therefore, local commanders will likely only monitor the most high-profile and controversial incidents, leaving most military "pranks" out of consideration. Furthermore, the general information environment influences the assessment of the situation. Over the past several years, IDF troops stationed in Lebanon have been systematically indoctrinated to believe that border residents are all Hezbollah loyalists who condone its subversive activities against Israel. Therefore, they pose a threat to national security that must be neutralized. It is not surprising that some of the military personnel eventually began to perceive the residents of the Lebanese border area as a “temporary obstacle,” which led to a corresponding attitude. The military leadership is still pondering how to break the symbolic impasse and improve relations with the local population without angering its own veterans, some of whom still perceive vandalism as an acceptable way to "de-escalate tension." | |
| Posted by:badanov |
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