‘Israel’s’ Chief Rabbinate declines to condemn smashing of Jesus statue in Lebanon

• Report says military requested religious condemnation after incident in southern Lebanon.
• ‘Israeli’ army says soldiers involved were dismissed and jailed for 30 days.

‘Israel’s’ Chief Rabbinate has reportedly declined to publicly condemn the destruction of a statue of Jesus by an ‘Israeli’ soldier in southern Lebanon earlier this month, according to a report by Army Radio.

The report said military officials had asked the Rabbinate, the highest Jewish religious authority in ‘Israel’, to issue a statement denouncing the act after the incident triggered widespread criticism.

According to the report, the ‘Israeli’ military sought a clear religious condemnation of the act, arguing it was inconsistent with Jewish law and military values.

Instead, the Rabbinate reportedly agreed to coordinate with the military and ‘Israel’s’ public diplomacy apparatus, commonly referred to as hasbara, on handling similar incidents in the future.

The ‘Israeli’ military did not dispute the report and acknowledged the sensitivity of the incident.

“Given the sensitivity surrounding harm to a religious symbol, the IDF considered various options for conveying that this incident does not reflect its values,” the military said in a statement.

“Naturally, some of these measures were implemented while others were not,” it added.

The incident took place in the southern Lebanese village of Debel, where footage reportedly showed a soldier smashing the statue while another filmed the act.

The event sparked international condemnation from religious and political figures.

The ‘Israeli’ army said the soldier who destroyed the statue, along with the soldier who recorded the incident, were both dismissed from their roles and sentenced to 30 days in military prison.