IDF soldier caught smashing Jesus statue with sledgehammer — officials and critics react



A photograph began circulating on social media over the weekend that has many people both angry and confused while others question whether it is a real photo.

And the answers that later emerged did nothing to quell the outrage.

'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

The photo, posted by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi on Saturday, depicts a uniformed Israel Defense Forces soldier smashing the head of a statue of Jesus Christ with a hammer.

The journalist noted that the photo was taken during operations in Southern Lebanon, which have persisted despite the United States' attempts to reach a ceasefire agreement with Iran.

RELATED: OUTRAGE: Israel scrambles after police block church leaders from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass

Anwar AMRO/AFP/Getty Images

Tirawi made a follow-up post suggesting that the statue was in Debel, one of several predominantly Christian border villages in Southern Lebanon.

The post brought attention to a Facebook post associated with the town with a photo of the intact statue of Jesus. The caption of the post is Luke 23:34, which reads, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The IDF confirmed that the photo of "an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol" was indeed of "an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon."

It confirmed the authenticity of the photo, adding that the incident is viewed with "great severity" and that "appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings."

The post added that the IDF is "operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the rest of the "Jewish state," intimated that he was "stunned and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in southern Lebanon."

Netanyahu promised that the offender would face "appropriately harsh disciplinary action" and concluded:

While Christians are being slaughtered in Syria and Lebanon by Muslims, the Christian population in Israel thrives unlike elsewhere in the Middle East. Israel is the only country in the region that the Christian population and standard of living is growing. Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all. We express regret for the incident and for any hurt this has caused to believers in Lebanon and around the world.

Critics, however, were not so convinced.

Glenn Greenwald mocked anyone who would defend this horrific action: "Christian Zionists: This Israeli soldier was absolutely justified in smashing the head of the Jesus Christ statue because Hezbollah and Hamas were hiding inside. We owe him our gratitude."

"Horrific," Matt Gaetz said.

Ana Kasparian attacked the IDF and its post, saying that she didn't believe a word the IDF said: "This is just another example of Israel's hatred and disregard for other cultures and faiths. No one trusts your phony investigations, especially when IDF soldiers get away with rape and murder every single day."

Marjorie Taylor Greene joined the fray, quipping, “'Our greatest ally' that takes billions of our tax dollars and weapons every year."

Israel has justified its incursions into Lebanon on the basis of rooting out Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy in the country.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Bill Maher Makes Ana Kasparian Squirm by Refusing to Let Her Not Answer This Question
play icon

Bill Maher Makes Ana Kasparian Squirm by Refusing to Let Her Not Answer This Question

‘Obligation to mock’: Destiny’s HATEFUL response to Erika Kirk’s tearful address​



Political streamer Destiny, whose given name is Steven Bonnell II, recently appeared on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” where he not only refused to condemn the assassination of Charlie Kirk, but openly mocked Erika Kirk for mourning her husband.

“I don’t understand you, Destiny. You have so much hatred in your heart,” Ana Kasparian said on the panel of “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”

“It’s such a simple thing,” Destiny responded. “If you’re going to weaponize somebody’s grief against the other party, well, then of course people have a right to fight back against it. I think that she has every right to grieve in whatever way she wants.”

“But when that grief is going to be weaponized to do recruitment, political recruitment and further radicalization of the other side, then of course you not only have the ability to mock, I think you have the obligation to mock it. It’s insane,” he added.


“If someone assassinated my husband,” Kasparian responds in disbelief, “I would not be able to have the level of composure she had during that speech. I would be out for blood. I understand why she’s angry and why she said the things that she said. Okay? You need to understand what being a human is.”

“Ana Kasparian,” BlazeTV host Alex Stein says on “Prime Time with Alex Stein,” “she nailed it.”

However, that’s not even the worst of the panel’s interactions with Destiny.

Jack Posobiec, who lost a best friend when he lost Charlie, spoke of one of the shooter’s bullets that said, “Hey fascist, catch,” before Destiny erupted.

“That’s not even the bullet that was fired. How are you lying about this?” Destiny said.

“Shut up, Destiny,” Posobiec says, clearly frustrated.

“You’re so shameless, dude. Oh my God. ... You’re such a disgusting piece of s**t,” Destiny shouted.

“That’s what Destiny does. He wants to argue semantics. Like, he’s trying to call Jack Posobiec a liar for not describing the exact bullet, even though we know all four bullets had all of these weird messages on them. So, I mean, regardless of the bullet that went in him, every bullet had a message,” Stein says, disgusted.

“He’s an evil, sick, sick, disgusting person,” he adds.

Want more from Alex Stein?

To enjoy more of Alex's culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Panel explodes into chaos after leftist influencer defends mocking Charlie Kirk's widow



A panel about the assassination of Charlie Kirk descended into chaos over the extreme claims from a leftist streamer and influencer who said he had an obligation to mock the activist's widow.

Liberal YouTube host Ana Kasparian and others berated streamer Destiny, whose real name is Steven Bonnell, for calling on Democrats to mock Erika Kirk after she encouraged Americans to join Turning Point USA in honor of her slain husband.

'Because of the fact that you have a huge audience, you have a responsibility! ... You represent the worst of us, Destiny! You're embarrassing!'

"The idea of mocking a woman who is now a widow with two young children, who witnessed her husband get shot in the neck and bleed out to death, how can you mock that? What is wrong with you?" Kasparian said to Bonnell on Piers Morgan's YouTube show.

"I don't understand you, Destiny. You have so much hatred in your heart!" she added.

"It's such a simple thing. If you're gonna weaponize somebody's grief against the other party, well, then of course people have a right to fight back against it," he responded.

"I think that she has every right to grieve in whatever way she wants," Bonnell added. "But when that grief is gonna be weaponized to do recruitment, political recruitment, and further radicalization of the other side, then of course you not only have the ability to mock, but I think you have the obligation to mock it. It's insane!"

"Let me understand. Let me understand your argument. So since others are using her grief to politically recruit, you think that it's OK to mock her specifically?" Kasparian asked. "How does that make any sense?"

"Since others are using her grief?" Bonnell replies. "She's the one who gave a 17-minute speech on TV where she talked about good versus evil. She's the one showing up in TPUSA ads one or two days after."

Bonnell went on to attack Kasparian for criticizing the left and said that right-wing activists are planning on a civil war while liberals are attacking each other.

Elsewhere in the interview, Kasparian demanded that Bonnell condemn the attack on Kirk, but he said he would do so only after Trump condemned political violence.

"Why is your behavior contingent on Donald Trump?" Kasparian asked.

"Because he's the president of the United States of America and the leader of the opposing political party!" Bonnell yelled.

"You have a huge audience of young men who listen to everything you have to say! ... And because of the fact that you have a huge audience, you have a responsibility! ... You represent the worst of us, Destiny! You're embarrassing!" Kasparian yelled back.

Video of the entire exchange can be viewed on the show's channel on YouTube.

RELATED: VIDEO: Erika Kirk makes first public remarks since the death of her husband, Charlie Kirk

Bonnell also mocked Kasparian for having a conversation with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck.

"You're so embarrassing. You make the left look so bad, and you don't even realize it. You are seriously so embarrassing," Kasparian said to Bonnell.

"OK, yeah. You can talk to your best friend, Glenn Beck, about it later," Bonnell mocked.

"Maybe I will!" she responded. "Maybe I will talk to Glenn Beck about it! Oh, is that naughty? Is it naughty to have conversations with people across the aisle?"

She went on to say that Bonnell should be shunned from the movement over cyber sexual harassment allegations against him in a lawsuit from another political influencer. Bonnell has said he did not violate any laws and was himself a victim of the leak.

Also on Thursday, Turning Point USA announced that Erika Kirk is taking over as CEO.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Left-Wing Streamer Gets Called Out Over Charlie Kirk Assassination By Lib Podcast Host

'You have a huge audience'

CNN Host Scrambles To Grasp At Straws After Scott Jennings Calls Her Out Over DC Crackdown

'What kind of Americans do you mean?'

Ana Kasparian: 'I’m done with the Democratic Party'



Ana Kasparian, co-host of “The Young Turks,” is one of the few voices in the political sphere who refuses to blindly follow the crowd based on claimed political ideology — and she’s not afraid to say it.

“I find myself in this weird politically homeless place right now, because you look at the Democratic Party, and both in pathology and in policy, I feel that they’ve taken on some of the characteristics that were indicative of the Bush-era Republicans,” Kasparian tells BlazeTV host James Poulos on “Zero Hour.”

And Kasparian believes this began to happen after President Trump’s emergence onto the political scene around the 2016 election.


“I really do think that Donald Trump specifically just kind of came in, stirred the pot, realigned things in some ways,” she explains. “So for instance, he was such a disruptive force that the left in general just really didn’t know how to react or respond to him, and I think that they, the mainstream Democratic Party, has kind of taken on ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”

“So I think the biggest mistake the Democratic Party has made in recent years is this mistake in thinking that if someone, or a political ideology, is against Trump, that must mean they’re good for the Democrats,” she continues.

And one of the Democrats Kasparian believes Americans need to watch out for is California Governor Gavin Newsom.

“Gavin Newsom is a snake, and he is setting himself up for a presidential run. And as a result, he’s kind of presenting himself as some sort of reasonable, more moderate Democrat,” Kasparian tells Poulos.

“He is someone that you shouldn’t trust or believe,” she says. “He has overseen the absolute destruction of the state that I was born and raised in, the state that I absolutely love.”

“Gavin Newsom is the perfect example of a politician who wants to be a leader but doesn’t have the characteristics necessary to actually be a leader,” she continues, adding, “Gavin Newsom follows trends, and he goes along with what he thinks is politically popular at any given moment.”

Want more from James Poulos?

To enjoy more of James's visionary commentary on politics, tech, ideas, and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The INFURIATING reason why fire hydrants ran dry in Los Angeles



The wildfires around Los Angeles are a historic disaster. Los Angeles officials believe the number of dead is higher than reported, and thousands of homes have been destroyed in the flames. Over 130,000 people are under evacuation orders.

But that all raises the question: Why was California so unprepared?

Right as the firefighters were attempting to contain the breakout, the fire hydrants ran dry.

“This sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it happened,” Glenn Beck of “The Glenn Beck Program” comments, noting that when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was asked about why the fire hydrants ran dry, he told reporters that “local folks are going to have to try to figure that out.”


“Wait a minute. Hang on just a second. So the guy who holds the highest political office in California, who is constantly meddling in every single person's personal life, who loves big government, more than comfortable with the phrase ‘trust us, we’re the government, we know better, we’re here to help,’” Glenn says, “he’s been doing all the deals with water, and he has the balls to look at the camera and go, ‘What do you want from me?’”

“You people have set California up,” Glenn adds, before referring to a social media post from former liberal Ana Kasparian.

“CA, and especially LA, is controlled by Democrats. THEY are responsible. No more passing the buck. Our Mayor, who was in Ghana as fires exploded in our city, cut the fire budget by $17 million. Endless amounts of money funneled to bullshit scammer homeless nonprofits. We’re the highest taxed yet we have encampments and squalor everywhere,” Kasparian wrote in a post on X.

“Even worse, we don’t have enough firefighters to respond to the absolute disaster we’re experiencing right now. Rather than conserve the record rain we got last year, we just drained it into the ocean. We are a failing city run by a sick excuse for local government. You want to radicalize people against the modern Democratic Party? Send them to LA,” she concluded.

Ana then quote-tweeted a video from an organization called More Perfect Union, which says, “One billionaire couple owns all the water in California. In 1994, the Resnicks secretly seized control of California’s public water supply. Now their companies use over 150 billion gallons every year while working class people suffer under drought conditions.”

“Now, I’m not letting this California company off the hook, but this is the response that always happens from the left,” Glenn says, adding, “They treat corporations all across the spectrum the same way, and you see it in health care, food production, pharmaceuticals, on and on and on. It is never the government’s fault; it’s those damn corporations.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

‘That Really Does Red Pill People’: Young Turks Co-Host Says Dems Will ‘Keep Losing’ By Gaslighting Americans

'It builds resentment toward the party'

Left-wing host melts down over report Kamala Harris may run for California governor: 'No! What are you doing?!'



Left-wing commentator Ana Kasparian had a passionate and negative reaction to the report that Vice President Kamala Harris may run for governor of California after her disastrous election loss.

Kasparian was discussing the issue with "The Young Turks" host Cenk Uygur when he opined that if Harris ran for governor in California that she would easily win.

'This state cannot survive another incompetent Democrat leading it!'

"I think Kamala Harris would probably win in a cakewalk for governor," said Uygur.

"No!" Kasparian yelled immediately. "No! What are you doing?! What are you doing?!"

"I am telling you the reality whether you like it or not!" he replied. "Democratic voters in California love to obey!"

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" she exclaims. "I'm gonna move, Cenk! I'm gonna quit my job! I'm gonna quit my job, and I'm gonna move!"

"I'm not saying I'm in favor of it!" Uygur responded.

"This state cannot survive another incompetent Democrat leading it!" Kasparian said. "No, we just can't!"

Video of her outburst was posted to social media where many on the right reacted with glee.

Harris led the Democratic Party into an election where they lost control of the U.S. Senate, lost the presidential election, and allowed Republicans to retain control of the House of Representatives. While some Democrats have tired of Harris, sources say she is already planning to either run for California governor or run again for president in 2028.

Kasparian quoted a report that Harris was in a "wait and see" mode about her next steps.

"How about you wait and see, like, your way out of public life!" Kasparian said. "Go do what you're supposed to do! Go work in the private sector; go do the lobbying thing. Whatever it is, but do not run as governor of California! Do not!"

Kasparian has recently taken steps toward accepting some conservative criticism of Democratic policies. Among the most entertaining was when she blew up after finding out that electric car charger installation at a housing association would skyrocket her housing costs.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!