IDF reservist’s Cyprus vacation cut short after pro-Palestinian NGO tried to have him arrested

A reserve officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) went to Cyprus with his wife to celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary. 

However, what began as a romantic getaway quickly escalated into a harrowing legal ordeal, with the reserve officer finding himself at the center of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs operation to evacuate him swiftly from the Greek island.

A Belgian organization, called the Hind Rajab Foundation, filed a complaint with the Cyprus Police against the reserve officer, accusing him of war crimes in Gaza. The Israeli authorities discovered the threat to have him arrested and worked quickly to help get him off the island.

The pro-Palestinian NGO mentioned above derives its name from a five-year-old Palestinian girl, also named Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza in January, along with her family, during the fighting in Gaza City.

The IDF said Rajab's death stemmed from an accidental tank shelling of the family’s vehicle. The family’s relatives claim that Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics who came to help were also killed in the incident.

The organization describes itself as a foundation “devoted to breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity and honoring the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who have perished in the Gaza genocide.” 

After spotting pictures of the reserve officer on vacation in Cyprus, the group matched his face to video footage of him in Gaza. In one of the videos, he is heard saying, “We won’t stop until we burn all of Gaza.” 

The NGO issued a complaint to Cyprus police, accusing the officer of war crimes. 

After returning to Israel, the reservist, whose name is still not being released, told Israel Hayom, “I would have appreciated it if the country had given us simple guidelines in advance—don’t post on social media when you’re abroad.” 

The IDF and National Security Council (NSC) do not currently provide soldiers with guidance on this issue. 

The reserve officer and his wife went to Cyprus after an IDF travel warning against traveling to Greece was recently lifted. 

“We won’t forget this anniversary,” the reservist said in messages to friends which were shared with Israel Hayom. In those messages, he called it “one of the most stressful experiences of my life.” 

He gave a warning to other reservists planning to travel abroad. 

“Keep traveling and enjoying yourselves, but don’t reveal your destination. Human rights organizations are following us and waiting to catch us abroad. It could end in a serious complication,” he cautioned. 

The Foreign Ministry released a statement about the case, following Israel Hayom’s publication of the story. 

“Following an attempt by the ‘30th of March Movement’—a pro-Palestinian organization that aims to target Israelis abroad—to bring about the arrest of an Israeli reservist in Cyprus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted immediately, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, and ensured the safe return of the Israeli citizen to the country,” the statement read.