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A viral photograph showing an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer surfaced online on April 19 sparked outrage.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the authenticity of a photo, taken at the Christian village of Debel, promising that it will take action against those involved.
“The IDF views the incident with great severity and emphasizes that the soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops,” the military said in a statement.
The incident is being investigated by the Northern Command and is being handled “through the chain of command,” it added, noting that “appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings.”
The military also said that the Northern Command will also assist the Christian community in restoring the statue to its place.
In a later statement, the IDF announced that the soldier who smashed the statue was identified and that would be taken against those involved in the incident.
Since resuming ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon last month, the IDF has repeatedly implied that it was only targeting the group and its supporters, mainly Muslim Shia who make up the majority of the region’s population.
Reports of deals with Christian and Druze towns in the region were even reported. Still, many were among more than 600,000 people displaced from the region. Christian towns in particular were targeted more than once. Even elsewhere in Lebanon, Christian were killed by Israeli strikes.
The latest incident sparked outrage against the IDF, even within Israel. The leaders of the Catholic churches in Israel said that the destruction of a statue of Jesus by an IDF soldier revealed “a disturbing failure in moral and human formation.”
The church leaders express their “profound indignation and unreserved condemnation” for the act, saying in a statement that “even the most elementary reverence for the sacred and for the dignity of others has been gravely compromised.”
The incident “constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith and adds to other reported incidents of desecration of Christian symbols by IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon,” they continued.
They also called for “immediate and decisive disciplinary action, a credible process of accountability, and clear assurances that such conduct will neither be tolerated nor repeated.”
Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, wrote on social media pointedly: “We’ll wait to hear the police spokesperson claim that ‘the soldier felt threatened by Jesus’.”
Ahmad Tibi, another Palestinian member of the Knesset, wrote that those who blow up mosques and churches in Gaza and spit on Christian clergy in Jerusalem without punishment are not afraid to destroy a statue of Jesus Christ and publish it.
“Perhaps these racists have also learned from Donald Trump to insult Jesus Christ and insult Pope Leo?” he asked, referring to the United States president’s recent controversies, including his now-deleted AI-generated image that portrayed him as a Jesus-like figure and his feud with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, who has criticised the war on Iran.
In an attempt to contain the outrage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was “stunned and saddened” by an IDF soldier destroying a statue of Jesus in Lebanon yesterday.
“As the Jewish state, Israel cherishes and upholds the Jewish values of tolerance and mutual respect between Jews and worshippers of all faiths,” he said in a post to X. “All religions flourish in our land and we view members of all faiths as equals in building our society and region.”
“Yesterday, like the overwhelming majority of Israelis, I was stunned and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in southern Lebanon,” he continued. “I condemn the act in the strongest terms. Military authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter and will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action against the offender.”
The incident came just days before the second round of ambassador-level peace talks between Israel and Lebanon in the U.S.
A meeting between Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House also being prepared, although peace remains highly unlikely.
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destroying others people’s sacred beilefs and symbols is a very bad habit to get into.
i believe the almighty may frown upon such behavior no matter who comits them.
standard zionist behavior.