Gal Ferenbook, an Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldier arrived in Sri Lanka hoping to relax after a tour in Gaza. It is safe to assume that he was shocked when he got a call from his higher-ups back home on Wednesday. He was told to get out of the island nation if he didn't want to go from the cushiness of the beach resort room to the darkness of a prison cell!
Gal Ferenbook, in a video that went viral on the internet, was seen being hailed by a colleague as the "Terminator" from the safety of what looked like an IDF facility. He had a broad smile on his face as his colleague zoomed the camera towards a screen in front of them which showed a Palestinian man lying motionless. Ferenbook was being hailed as a "Terminator" for taking down a Palestinian and there was no sign of the victim being armed.
The video which was taken as a trophy to celebrate a remorseless act, came back to haunt Gal Ferenbook as Hind Rajab Foundation, a Belgium-based pro-Palestine organisation, confirmed his presence in Sri Lanka and raised alarm. It demanded the Sri Lankan authorities detain "war criminal" Ferenbook and tipped off the International Criminal Court, and Interpol, reports said.
Israel, who understood which way things were heading, asked its soldier to cut his vacation short and come back home.
OSINT missions against IDF soldiers
Israel had warned its soldiers fighting in Gaza against shooting and sharing videos or photos from the frontlines on social media. At a time when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes, it is no safer for the soldiers to avoid posting photos from Gaza online. Such materials available online are being gathered by anti-Israel activists and groups to be used against IDF in war crimes proceedings.
Right groups are spending hours online monitoring the social media accounts of IDF personnel to download any such material as soon as they are posted. Later, if these soldiers decide to make an international trip for leisure or other private purposes, their social media activities are again used to pinpoint their location. The activists will file they proceed and complaints against them locally, Israel found out.
The Times Of Israel identified recent instances of IDF soldiers being forced to leave Cyprus, Slovenia, and the Netherlands under similar circumstances. Dozens of fighters were told to avoid international vacations by Israel in the light of war crimes complaints filed against them, the report said.
In Gal Ferenbook's case, the controversial video was posted on August 9 on his Instagram account, Times Of Israel said in a report. "Today, the #HindRajabFoundation has formally sent the ICC complaint against Gal Ferenbook to the governments of #SouthAfrica, #Ireland, and #Spain, urging them to issue arrest warrants and request Interpol Red Notices should he leave #SriLanka freely. Gal Ferenbook, a soldier with blood on his hands, is responsible for the killing of a Palestinian civilian and boasts about his actions in widely documented footage (see video). As a war criminal, he must not be allowed to enjoy impunity. The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on the international community to act decisively and ensure accountability for his crimes," the Belgian group said on X on December 18.
From the comment section, it seems like the Israeli man made it out of Sri Lanka safely.
Can Israel protect its soldiers from arrest in foreign lands?
Tel Aviv clarified that it will throw its weight behind its soldiers if anti-Israel groups decide to carry on with this modus operandi. Its diplomatic offices in respective countries will give asylum to any soldier who is arrested or asked to come in for questioning or feels threatened while abroad, the Israeli media. "The IDF does everything it can and uses all available means to protect its service members at home and abroad,” the report added.
Those who are planning to travel outside its borders should not publish social media content that give away their location, the IDF has told its men and women, the report claimed.