An Israeli reservist who fled Brazil after legal action was initiated against him based on his social media posts from the war in Gaza arrived safely back in Israel on Wednesday, according to Hebrew media reports.
Yuval Vagdani returned to Israel on a connecting flight from Argentina via Miami. He said that he would never return to Brazil and expressed regret for his social media posts.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday said it had helped Vagdani leave Brazil on a commercial flight after what it described as “anti-Israel elements” initiated an investigation against him last week for alleged war crimes.
The 21-year-old, who survived Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel, had posted images during his military service in Gaza of the destruction of an abandoned building, with laughter in the background.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, named after a 5-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, said Brazilian authorities launched an investigation after it filed a complaint based on the video footage. The group also filed a war crimes complaint against Vagdani, as well as another former IDF soldier, in Argentina.
The organization was founded by a longtime advocate of terrorism and purveyor of antisemitic hatred based in Belgium, according to the Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor.
Israeli soldiers have been warned against posting on social media about their military service, behavior which is also in violation of military regulations.
“I hope that others learn from my mistakes,” Vagdani told Israel’s Channel 12 News.