The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Saturday it has launched a criminal investigation into one of its soldiers who, in a viral video, called for a mutiny if the government fails to achieve a “complete victory” against Hamas.
In the video, a masked reservist addresses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a damaged building in Gaza. He pledges support for the hawkish Israeli leader and asserts that he and his fellow soldiers will not “hand the keys over” to Palestinians or other Arab groups.
“We reservist soldiers do not intend to hand the keys over to any Palestinian authority. We do not intend to give the keys to Gaza to any entity — Hamas, Fatah, or any other Arab entity,” he declares in the footage, which was shared by Netanyahu’s son Yair, who resides in Miami and has not participated in the war, according to Israeli media. “Reservist soldiers are behind you, and we want to win,” the soldier states.
Screengrab of a soldier from a seditious viral video
The soldier also criticizes Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has recently clashed with Netanyahu over post-war plans for Gaza’s governance, and demands his resignation. Earlier this month, Gallant urged Netanyahu to make “tough decisions” regarding Gaza’s post-war governance that excluded Hamas and expressed his opposition to any Israeli management of the enclave after the conflict.
“Yoav Gallant, you can’t win the war. Quit!” the soldier exclaims. “You can’t command us!”
The soldier claims he will reject any orders from Gallant, warning that if the government does not aim to eliminate Hamas, he and the 100,000 reservists called up to fight the war will position themselves on the border of Gaza and appeal to Israeli citizens to join them.
The soldier called on Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to step down in his video. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“Our brothers and sisters did not die for nothing, weren’t raped for nothing, and were not slaughtered in their beds for nothing,” he says, referring to IDF soldiers killed during the ongoing war in Gaza and the horrors of Hamas’ October 7 attack.
The Israeli military informed The Times of Israel that it has initiated an investigation into the footage and that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has instructed all commanders to discuss the matter with their troops. “The behaviour in the video is a serious violation of IDF orders and IDF values and constitutes a suspicion of criminal offences,” a military spokesperson told the outlet.
In other developments:
- Palestinians fled Jabalia in northern Gaza Friday as the Israeli military continued its operations to take out Hamas fighters who had regrouped in the refugee camp, video footage showed.
- An international effort to provide aid to starving Gazans through a $320 million US-constructed pier has struggled in its first week of operations, The Wall Street Journal reported. Just 820 tons of aid was delivered via the dock, and roughly a dozen trucks from the pier failed to reach their final destination, having been raided by desperate Palestinians, United Nations officials told the outlet.
- The IDF said it is investigating video footage posted on social media that showed troops at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza City burning books, including a Quran, The Jerusalem Post reported
- Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the video on X, calling it “dangerous and disastrous.” Lapid criticized Netanyahu supporters for “enthusiastically” sharing the video, which he described as another attempt to deflect responsibility for what he called “the biggest disaster in the history of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
