After a photograph showed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier taking a sledgehammer to the face of Christ on a larger-than-life-size Lebanese crucifix, Israeli authorities quickly condemned the action and launched an investigation.
Israeli officials are often the only world leaders regularly highlighting the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East (much more often than American leaders discuss it), and Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where Christians have equal rights. Hence, the IDF soldier vandalizing the crucifix elicited a post from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X Monday, “As the Jewish state, Israel cherishes and upholds the Jewish values of tolerance and mutual respect between Jews and worshippers of all faiths. All religions flourish in our land and we view members of all faiths as equals in building our society and region.”
The prime minister offered his condolences and empathy with the Catholic Lebanese community that owns the crucifix. The IDF announced that it “is working to assist the community in restoring the statue to its place.”
The IDF is currently examining the reliability of the photograph.
If this is indeed a real, recent picture, these actions do not align with the IDF’s values and the behavior expected of IDF soldiers.The incident will be investigated thoroughly and in depth, and if… pic.twitter.com/xMTtEMp4dS
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) April 19, 2026
Before sharing the rest of Netanyahu’s statement, I would also like to remind people not to jump to the conclusion that the IDF vandalizer was Jewish. There are IDF soldiers of multiple religions, including Islam, in the Israeli military, along with soldiers who have no religion at all. So, until and unless Israel releases the name of the guilty soldier, we really cannot be certain about what his motivations were other than the obvious one of damaging a crucifix.
Netanyahu’s statement, after the initial emphasis of inter-religious respect, continued, “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. 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.”
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He then pointed out the really pervasive threat of anti-Christian persecution. Indeed, in Lebanon, Muslims have largely displaced or killed Christians. Lebanese Christians, now a minority in the country they recently dominated, still face repression and displacement.
Netanyahu wrote, “While Christians are being slaughtered in Syria and Lebanon by Muslims, the Christian population in Israel thrives unlike elsewhere in the Middle East. Israel is the only country in the region that the Christian population and standard of living is growing. Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all. We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world.”
Furthermore, as mentioned above, IDF also released an official statement assuring Christians that it is helping restore the damaged crucifix. “The IDF is operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols,” it affirmed.
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