Israeli soldier who survived October 7 escaped from Brazil after investigation for war crimes was opened against him

An Israeli soldier, a survivor of the massacre at the Nova festival, fled Brazil after a Brazilian court opened a criminal investigation into his actions in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported.

The identity of the accused has not yet been confirmed by the press or authorities. He was on a tourist trip in the South American country when a federal judge, Raquel Soares Charelli, ordered the police to investigate him for war crimes. This would have been done in response to a request from a Palestinian organization called The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF).

Stalking Israeli soldiers abroad

The indictment was filed by the HRF legal team, which claims to have submitted videos, geolocation data and photographs showing the soldier "personally planting explosives and participating in the destruction of entire neighborhoods."

In a recent social media post, they accuse the Israeli Foreign Ministry of facilitating the soldier's escape. In that post, they identify him as Yuval Vagdani.

The organization itself explained that this is part of a strategy to prosecute members of the Israeli forces who are outside Israel.

HRF claims to be pursuing "several such cases running in various countries, most of which have not been publicized." However, the one in Brazil, it acknowledges, represented a "historic legal development."

A questioned organization

The same organization made headlines less than three months ago, when it announced that it had filed lawsuits against more than 1,000 Israeli soldiers before the International Criminal Court (ICC) - the same one that issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant-.

At the time, NGO Monitor reported that The Hind Rajab Foundation was chaired by Dyab Abou Jahjah, whom described as a "a long-time known supporter of the Hezbollah terror organization." Jahjah acknowledges on a verified X account having founded the organization; an account from which in September he praised then-recently deceased Hamas leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah:

"He is a historic leader of the resistance... Since October 8, he opened a support front, easing pressure on Gaza and applying pressure on Israel... I had the privilege of meeting Sayed Nasrallah once, in 2001. We spoke for only an hour, but his aura, smile, brilliance, and kindness are unforgettable. I am fortunate to have lived in his era and witnessed his leadership... We say Alhamdulilah for everything. Our martyrs are not our weakness or shame, they are our pride and strength. And among our martyrs, he is the prince."

Who is the Israeli soldier?

Although his name has not been confirmed, the Israeli press did claim that the unnamed soldier is one of the survivors of October 7.

The same media claim that he was at the Nova Festival then, and that he survived after running for miles, dodging bullets, from the terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 dead in the country, in addition to 250 hostages in the hands of Hamas.

The soldier's family told Israel's Channel 12 that a friend traveling with him was tipped off that there was an arrest warrant out for him. "I asked them to escape immediately and not stay even a moment longer," his father said. "He’s not a suspect; he’s a soldier who’s been through hell."

"Anti-Semitic" President Lula

"I am embarrassed for Brazil and its government which succumbed to the pro-Palestine legal terrorism," reacted the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), Yuli Edelstein, in words collected by ynet. He also promised to hold a meeting to discuss how to defend the military abroad.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar also took aim at the Brazilian Administration, branding President Lula da Silva an "anti-Semite." He did so in response to criticism from the Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapidm, who blamed Netanyahu's government for an Israeli "being forced to flee Brazil in the middle of the night." A "patriotic opponent," Sa'ar replied, would aim his reproaches at Brasilia, not Jerusalem.

The Brazilian leader, who was declared persona non grata in the Jewish state, after he accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza and equated the actions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with the Holocaust.