{"id":75025,"date":"2026-04-20T17:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/75025\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:08:22","slug":"netanyahu-promises-harsh-discipline-for-idf-soldier-caught-smashing-jesus-statue-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/75025\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu promises ‘harsh’ discipline for IDF soldier caught smashing Jesus statue in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> has condemned an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer in Lebanon \u2014 promising \u201cappropriately harsh disciplinary action.\u201d<\/p>\n

A shocking image shows the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier bashing a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross in a Christian village in the southern Lebanon village of Debel, as the country launched a military campaign against the Iranian-backed \u2060Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

The cross was part of a small shrine in a family garden on the edge of the village, according to Fadi Falfel, a priest in Debel.<\/p>\n

An Israeli soldier damaged the head of a statue of Jesus, in Debel, Lebanon, a viral photo shows. Social Media via REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this horrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Netanayhu said that the soldier\u2019s actions went against Jewish values \u2014 and promised the soldier would be punished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilitary authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter and will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action against the offender,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the soldier will be punished. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mike Huckabee<\/a>, the US ambassador to Israel, said in a statement that \u201cSwift, severe, & public consequences are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the soldier\u2019s actions were disgraceful and shameful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe apologize for this incident and to every Christian whose feelings were hurt,\u201d Saar said on X.<\/p>\n

The IDF said it \u201cviews the incident with great severity and emphasizes that \u2060the soldier\u2019s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IDF is working to assist the community in restoring the statue to its place,\u201d the Israeli military said.<\/p>\n

Debel has essentially been under Israeli occupation since Israel invaded southern Lebanon last month after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran.<\/p>\n

Israel and Lebanon on Thursday agreed to a US-brokered\u00a0cease-fire<\/a>\u00a0intended to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

Israeli army vehicles operate in Lebanon on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have every kind of crisis,\u201d Father Falfel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought the ceasefire would bring us some relief but we\u2019re still \u2060surrounded, unable to travel to and from the town. There are some houses on the edge of town that we\u2019re barred from accessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Post Wires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[37,10676,93,933,36],"class_list":["post-75025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-israel","tag-jesus","tag-lebanon","tag-us-news","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116438139157017089","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}