Last week, Israel’s Foreign Ministry revealed that it had helped a reservist with the Israeli Defense Forces safely depart Brazil in December after a judge ordered his investigation for alleged war crimes in Gaza. According to the Ministry, these allegations were borne of local “anti-Israel elements.” 

Now, the Herald can confirm that the officer subsequently traveled to Argentina, that a criminal complaint was made against him in the country on December 24, and that two other IDF members will be facing similar complaints in the coming days.

Rodolfo Yanzon, the human rights attorney who initiated the proceedings, claims that Yuval Vagdan was an active participant in the destruction of Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure. The evidence, which includes video footage, geolocation data, and photographs pulled from Vagdan’s social media, was furnished by the Hind Rajab Foundation. 

Based in Brussels and named for a 5-year-old girl killed in the Gaza conflict, the foundation’s website claims that its mission is to “actively pursue legal action against those responsible for these atrocities, including perpetrators and inciters of violence against Palestinians.” 

“After Yuval Vagdani’s escape from Brazil to Argentina, the #HindRajabFoundation has filed a legal case in Argentina against the war crimes suspect,” the Foundation posted to X on Tuesday. “This move reinforces our commitment to ending impunity and holding perpetrators accountable. Justice will provide, no matter where they hide.”

An official at the Israeli embassy in Argentina told the Herald that Vagdan had safely returned to Israel and that he faced no legal complications during his stay in the country. During an interview with the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Vagdan admitted that he had posted a video of a building being destroyed in Gaza.

“That’s what they said they wanted to investigate me about,” he said. “They turned it from one house into 500 pages; they thought I’d murdered thousands of children, and who knows what.”

In addition to Vagdani, Yanzon says that criminal complaints will be made against Israelis Amit Nechmya and Saar Hirshoren between Friday and Monday of next week, although it is unclear if the two are still in the country. 

“The complication is that it’s January, which is a vacation month,” Yanzon told the Herald. “The functions being performed by the judiciary are minimal.”

“I understand these soldiers are in Argentina on holiday, so we probably only have a few days,” he continued. “I don’t anticipate arrest warrants being issued because there’s not enough time.”

Universal jurisdiction is a longstanding principle of international law that allows for individuals accused of the most serious kinds of offense, such as war crimes, to be tried locally even if they committed their crimes abroad. However, it’s typically been invoked for high-ranking officials: universal jurisdiction served as the legal grounds for the extradition of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet from Spain and for the prosecution of SS officer Adolf Eichmann. (The latter, who was living in Argentina at the time of his capture, later stood trial before the Supreme Court in Jerusalem.) 

In late 2023, a group of Colombian citizens filed a complaint against former President Álvaro Uribe, who governed from 2002 to 2010, for extrajudicial executions committed during the country’s armed conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, by its Spanish acronym). They told the Herald that one of the reasons they had chosen Argentina was that its universal jurisdiction provisions are unusually broad; the accused can be tried here even if they have no connection with the country.

These latest criminal complaints raise the possibility that soldiers on holiday could face legal ramifications as well. 

After the Israeli Foreign Ministry previously warned nationals against posting about their experiences in the conflict on social media, the IDF announced on Wednesday that it would no longer be identifying its officers by name for fear they might be detained abroad. 

The Gaza Health Ministry estimates that more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territory since the start of the latest conflict. More than half of those are women and children. In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’ military chief, Mohammed Deif.

Hamas killed approximately 1200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, while kidnapping 251. At least 20 of those were Argentine citizens. It is unclear how many of the hostages are still alive.