Benjamin Netanyahu says he was “shocked and saddened.” Two Israeli soldiers have been removed from combat duty and jailed for 30 days after one was filmed smashing a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon, while the other stood by and photographed it.
The incident happened in Debel, a Maronite Christian village in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces had been operating. A photo of the act went viral on social media over the weekend, racking up more than 5 million views on X. Ynet News reported Tuesday that the two soldiers directly involved were sentenced after an internal IDF inquiry concluded their conduct “completely deviated” from military orders and values.
Six other soldiers were present during the incident but neither stopped it nor reported it. Those troops have been summoned for clarification hearings, with further disciplinary measures still to be determined. The findings were presented to the IDF Chief of the General Staff, who called it a moral failure and said it contradicted IDF values.
Netanyahu condemns it, but critics aren’t convinced
The Israeli military confirmed the photo was authentic late Sunday. By Monday, the backlash had reached the top of the government. Netanyahu posted on X that he “condemn[s] the act in the strongest terms,” adding that “military authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter.”
“Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all,” he wrote. “We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world.”
Arab-Israeli lawmakers were far less measured. Knesset member Ayman Odeh posted on X that people should “wait to hear the police spokesperson claim that ‘the soldier felt threatened by Jesus.'” Fellow lawmaker Ahmad Tibi wrote on Facebook that soldiers who destroy mosques and churches in Gaza without accountability were “not afraid to smash a statue of Jesus Christ and publicize it.”
Tibi also drew a pointed comparison: “Perhaps these racists have also learned from Donald Trump to insult Jesus Christ,” referencing the US president’s recent controversies. Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself dressed as a Jesus-like figure before deleting it following backlash, and later posted a second similar image days afterward despite criticism from Christian leaders.
Trump’s MAGA base turns on Israel over Jesus statue
The backlash in the US cut across political lines. Al Jazeera reported that former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene highlighted on X that Israel receives “billions of our tax dollars and weapons every year.” Former Congressman Matt Gaetz responded to the photo with one word: “Horrific.”
Tucker Carlson, a conservative commentator and former Trump ally, went further. Writing in his newsletter, Carlson said the Israeli government “has permitted its soldiers to behave like barbarians for decades” and argued that social media had finally made the behavior visible to the world.
The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land issued a formal statement condemning the attack, calling it “a grave affront to the Christian faith” and warning of “a disturbing failure in moral and human formation.” The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem also weighed in, with spokesperson Farid Jubran calling the act “deeply offensive” and humiliating.
A new statue was placed at the site
In a separate development also confirmed Tuesday, a local priest named Fadi Falfel told Reuters the cross had been part of a small shrine in a family’s garden at the edge of the village. “One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this horrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,” he said.
As part of the fallout, the IDF’s Northern Command worked with local residents to have a new statue installed at the site in Debel. The replacement was put in place Tuesday, the military confirmed. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also condemned the original act, calling it “entirely contrary” to Israeli values.
Critics, however, pointed out the incident is not isolated. Al Jazeera noted that in 2024, Israeli troops vandalized a church in the Lebanese village of Deir Mimas, and an Israeli tank demolished a statue of Saint George in the southern Lebanese village of Yaroun. According to Palestinian officials, Israel has destroyed more than 1,000 mosques and three churches in Gaza since the start of the war there.
