Yuval Vagdani is an IDF soldier who was wanted in Brazil, from where he fled with the help of the Foreign Ministry after a complaint was filed against him for videos from the Gaza Strip that he posted online. On Wednesday, the family agreed to publish his name after he landed in Israel. After leaving Brazil he reached Argentina and continued to the U.S. before returning to Israel.
The video Vagdani allegedly shared
"We are all excited that he returned home safely," said Itzik, Yuval's father, and thanked those involved who helped him reach Israel. Yuval is a survivor of the Nova massacre, and now that he has returned home, he has told his family that he will no longer upload videos from Gaza. "He will never return to Brazil again," said his father. "He will learn from the mistakes he made. The main thing is that he has now returned to Israel and we are all happy that everything is behind us. The people of Israel live and are strong and we will prevail."
Brazil's federal court has ordered the local police to open an investigation against Vagdani, who arrived in the country with his friends on vacation after completing his military service about a week ago. Luckily, the he managed to leave Brazil with his friends before they were arrested. The judge's decision followed a complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), which focuses on legal proceedings against IDF soldiers who, according to the foundation, "committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine."
According to the foundation, named after a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was allegedly killed by IDF fire during the war in the Gaza Strip, the Brazilian government decided to take action following a complaint it filed against Vagdani, who arrived in the country as a tourist. The foundation's complaint claimed his actions were part of a broader effort and constituted "genocide and crimes against humanity" under international law.
Among the evidence provided by the foundation were videos and photographs that allegedly show Vagdani planting explosives in November 2024 and taking part in the destruction of “entire neighborhoods” in Gaza, which were reportedly used as shelters for Palestinians displaced from their homes.
On Tuesday, local media in Brazil reported that the federal police had asked the court to reconsider its order to open a criminal investigation against Vagdani, claiming that the case required a more in-depth investigation before it could proceed to a real investigation. The background to this, as reported by the local news website Metrópoles, is a dispute among police officers over the legitimacy of such an investigation, and the request submitted for reconsideration of the decision stated that “technical and legal issues” surrounding such a move needed to be resolved.
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According to the report, some investigators in the Brazilian police believe that an investigation into suspected war crimes against the soldier is legitimate due to the fact that Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, while others there believe this is insufficient grounds and that it is necessary to rely on a local law that would define such an offense.