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Israeli army issues new social media guidelines as soldiers face arrest warrants overseas

In recent weeks, soldiers traveling in Britain, Cyprus, Brazil and Thailand were forced to return to Israel early after being notified they were at risk of being arrested.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Due to the threat of arrest warrants for low-ranking soldiers traveling abroad, the Israel Defense Forces issued new social media guidelines.

Personnel ranked colonel and below were advised not to expose their names or faces on social media. Troops should only post photos taken from behind or with faces blurred. And soldiers with foreign citizenship were ordered not to reveal their names or faces, even outside a combat zone.

Israeli media was also instructed not to link specific soldiers to particular operational incidents they were involved in.

In recent weeks, soldiers traveling in Britain, Cyprus, Brazil and Thailand were forced to return to Israel early after being notified they were at risk of being arrested.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Belgium has been filing requests for arrest warrants for Israeli soldiers traveling abroad.

The Press Service of Israel recently reported that the NGO, founded in September 2024, is linked to Hezbollah.

Its chairman, Dyab Abou Jahjah, is a known supporter of Hezbollah, according to the NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based organization that monitors the activities and funding of NGOs.

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Jahjah boasted of his membership in the terror group when he told The New York Times in 2003, “I had some military training, I’m still very proud of this.”

The foundation has filed similar legal complaints against Israeli soldiers traveling in other countries, including the Netherlands and Ecuador.

It also petitioned the International Criminal Court to issue Interpol arrest warrants against 1,000 Israeli soldiers in eight different countries, including France, Ireland, and South Africa, according to the foundation’s website.

Alon Elgali, a civilian contractor who works for the army in Gaza told The Press Service of Israel on Sunday that Hind Rajab recently forced him to leave London early.

“They knew I was at a wedding in London and its whereabouts. They followed my every step,” he told TPS-IL. “If you ask me if I’m scared to fly, yes I am very scared.”

Asked for a comment, London’s Metropolitan Police told TPS-IL, “As with any crime reported to police, we would not comment on the identity of those making a report or referral to police, so I’m afraid we are not able to comment as to whether or not the particular NGO referenced below has made a referral or not.”

The police added, “More broadly, in relation to the ongoing Israel/Hamas conflict, we have received a large number of referrals since October 2023, but to-date, none have resulted in us opening a UK-based investigation. Referrals into us have related to parties on both sides of the conflict, although we are not providing any further breakdown of the nature of referrals.”

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Legal expert Maurisce Hirsch told TPS-IL that countries that do not recognize the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, such as the US, India and China, are relatively safe for soldiers to travel to.

Hirsch –a senior legal analyst at Human Rights Voices, who served previously as Director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria — added that regarding complaints filed by anti-Israeli NGOs, the situation differs from country to country.

“Many countries have legislation that allows them to prosecute war criminals, even if they are not citizens of the country. It is the so-called ‘universal authority,’ Hirsch said.

“And every country has its own rules regarding this. In the UK, for example, they changed the legislation a few years ago, and now only the government can file a complaint like this, but not an NGO or a private person. In Belgium the situation is different.”