Israeli reservists doxxed, harassed abroad - interview

A new online phenomenon has been manifesting of late: Anti-Israel accounts search the web, looking for former IDF soldiers and when they find them, these hackers doxx them based on the soldiers’ own pictures and stories that they have uploaded to social media.

The hackers focus primarily on former soldiers who uploaded public pictures in uniform from their military service, especially those who served in the Gaza Strip, exposing their whereabouts and sharing their private information, perhaps hoping that anti-Israel activists could then find them.

One such post featured four pictures of a former IDF soldier, reading: “After XXXXX from the Givati Brigade in the Israeli occupation army completed his participation in the genocide in Gaza, where he posted photos of sniping Palestinian civilians and photos of himself wearing women’s lingerie, he traveled to Europe, which opens its doors to murderers and war criminals. He is now enjoying his vacation on the Spanish island of Ibiza. We hope that he and others like him will be legally prosecuted.”

Another uploaded a soldier’s pictures, adding: “XXXXX, an IOF [Israel Occupation Forces] soldier participating in the genocide, uploaded a photo of himself inside the Palestinian homes they occupied. He shared a photo of himself molesting a mannequin and fiddling with her underwear. He arrived in Rome an hour ago to spend his vacation in Europe!”

A third example reads, “XXXXX, a soldier in the Israeli occupation army, participated in the genocide and posted photos of himself inside the homes of Palestinians that they occupied. He also shared photos of himself harassing a mannequin and messing with lingerie! He arrived in Rome an hour ago to spend his vacation in Europe!” Four hours later, the original poster uploaded another photo, supposedly by the same soldier, showing a Berlin street with a location tag, adding, “Update: He is now in Germany.”

According to X’s policy, “Sharing someone’s private information online without their permission, sometimes called ‘doxxing,’ is a breach of their privacy and can pose serious safety and security risks for those affected.”The platform also deems sharing private information without permission, including physical location information, as impermissible conduct, and indeed, several such posts were removed by X.

Owner Elon Musk has addressed the issue of doxxing in the past, tweeting in December 2022, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”

However, Musk also said that “posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so it is ok [sic.].”

Likewise, the same policy quoted above states ambiguously that “sharing information that is publicly available elsewhere in a non-abusive manner” is allowed, which may aid doxxers in circumventing the deletion of posts.

Tips from a pro

Ella Kenan, founder of the BrightMind initiative for pro-Israel influence on social media and a popular travel blogger who identified these nefarious accounts, has already received several aid requests from former soldiers who have been doxxed by these hackers.

Addressing this phenomenon, Kenan commented, “Soldiers upload photos of themselves from Gaza. It is not illegal or anything,” it is just that they reveal that they were in Gaza on completely open accounts on the networks, “and then they upload an exact location in real-time during their vacations abroad.”

What happens, Kenan explained, is that “anti-Israel actors living in Europe and North America are actively searching for them and trying to find out where they are,” so these soldiers’ safety as a result of their own choices is compromised, which is a real concern.

“Regardless of the legal aspects, it is important to develop what I call ‘online literacy.’ Be attentive and aware of this battle arena that exists in the virtual world and online in the networks. They are actively looking for the Israelis, actively searching for our soldiers in order to harm them,” Kenan pressed.

“Some of these accounts also spread complete lies,” she continued. “For instance, an anti-Israel account took a picture of a soldier and spread fake rumors as if he had killed an elderly man. This was done by an account page with 500,000 followers. Luckily, with focused action, we managed to have it deleted, but the picture had managed to go viral before that.”

Many former soldiers reach out to Kenan to ask for her help. “I try to calm them down and tell them that I will try to mobilize our volunteers to remove the content, assuming that it does violate codes of conduct, such as in cases of intentional harassment or invasion of privacy.”

“It is highly important to lock your accounts. Do not upload content in real-time, only a few days later when you’re already in another place. Also, do not make your specific plans too public. Do not upload pictures from combat scenes (even if you think for some reason that it might ‘impress the girls’), and do not write anything that could be interpreted in a way that would endanger you. Digital discipline is also a discipline that must be observed during a war,” she concluded.

Kenan can be reached on EllaKenan.Brightmind on instagram;  EllaTravelsLove on X. BrightMind’s volunteer group on telegram can be found here: https://t.me/+RlLT5HJVxTs1MjU0.