Disturbing image shows IDF soldier smashing Jesus statue with axe in Lebanon (Image: X)
Major backlash has been sparked following a photo of an Israeli soldier smashing a Jesus statue to pieces with an axe in Lebanon.
After hours of speculation regarding whether the photo, originally shared by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, was made by AI or not, the official Israeli Defense Force X account confirmed the photo was real.
Outrage spread like wildfire at the “disgusting” photo across the political spectrum. Ex-MAGA loyalist and former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted sarcastically, “‘Our greatest ally’ that takes billions of our tax dollars and weapons every year,” beneath the image.
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (Image: Getty)
Those in opposition to the United States support of Israel have been making this criticism for years. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States provides approximately $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel, comprising $3.3 billion in foreign military financing and $500 million for missile defense. While this is the baseline, recent conflicts have increased this amount; at least $12.5 billion in military aid was approved following October 7, 2023.
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has received over $300 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance from the United States
Several right-wing politicians and activists are now speaking out against the IDF.
Matt Gaetz, a former Republican congressman, also responded to the viral image. He wrote simply, “horrific.”
Political commentator Candace Owens responded to users arguing that the photo is fake. “The IDF has confirmed this is real,” she wrote. “Which commentators will reliably lecture us about Judeo-Christian values on Monday?”
One user responded, writing, “Our ‘Christian’ president and congress worship Israel.
According to a Gallup poll from February 2026, Republicans make up the most pro-Israel partisan group in the United States, with 69% in support. However, since 2025, the number has dropped by 15%.
British broadcaster Piers Morgan, who describes himself as an “old school non-woke liberal centrist,” responded to the image with the word “disgusting.”
Reporter Ryan Grim wrote on X, “This image was posted by an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon. Israeli soldiers have been posting images of their war crimes and cultural desecration for two and a half years straight without interruption.”
The United Nations released a report in 2024 about IDF soldiers committing atrocities on captured Palestinians, writing in a statement that they had “received substantiated reports of widespread abuse, torture, sexual assault and rape, amid atrocious inhumane conditions.”
Displaced Palestinians fill water containers in Gaza City (Image: Getty)
President Trump, a staunch ally of PM Netanyahu, has yet to comment on the incident.
One user wrote on X, “If our government won’t condemn this or even comment on it, that means they endorse it. What would happen if an American soldier in uniform burned the Torah or an Israeli flag? Our tax dollars fund this sacrilege. This is what our government thinks of Christians.”
Following a 10-day ceasefire with Israel, displaced Lebanese return to their homes in the south (Image: Getty)
As of April 16, Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement on a 10-day ceasefire. At least 2,294 people have died in Lebanon since the conflict started.
Jerusalem Cardinal condemns the act
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Monday expressed “profound indignation and unreserved condemnation” of the defacing of a statue of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in Lebanon, saying the act “constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith.
In a statement from Jerusalem, The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, headed by Pizzaballa, called for “immediate and decisive disciplinary action, a credible process of accountability, and clear assurances that such conduct will neither be tolerated nor repeated.
A woman checks a social media post on her mobile phone featuring an image that appears to show an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in the southern Lebanese Christian village of Debl. April 20, 2026. / Credit: Getty
(Getty)
In January, local media reported that Israeli officials confirmed at least 72,000 people have died in Gaza since the outbreak of war in 2023. Women, children, and the elderly account for more than 56% of the total death toll, according to a study published in the Lancet Global Health medical journal.
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