Far-right MK kicked out of IDF reserves over photo of ‘office’ in Lebanon home
Yitzhak Kroizer posed with soldiers in front of graffiti reading ‘Office of MK Kroizer’; party head Ben Gvir: ‘Shame on the IDF command’; Gantz: Dismissal ‘sends wrong message’
MK Yitzhak Kroizer, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, was dismissed from military reserve service Saturday after a photo circulated online showing him opening a mock office in a home in southern Lebanon.
The photo, which was disseminated on social media Friday, shows Kroizer surrounded by soldiers from his unit with “Office of MK Kroizer” spray-painted in Hebrew on one of the walls behind them.
The IDF Spokespersons Unit commented on the lawmaker’s dismissal, saying: “The incident was investigated, and it was decided to end the reserve service of the individual in question.”
Ben Gvir came to Kroizer’s defense on Saturday evening in a post on X, writing: “MK Kroizer, you are the pride of Otzma Yehudit, and you are the pride of the people of Israel.”
“Thank you for the dozens of reserve days you volunteered in the past year. Shame on the IDF command who fired you because of the publication of this photo,” Ben Gvir wrote.
Kroizer also posted on X, confirming his dismissal from the IDF and pinning the blame on a query by the left-wing Haaretz daily newspaper on the matter.
“I’ve had the privilege of fighting for you during more than 100 days of reserve duty over the past year. I’ll continue to fight for you in the Knesset together with my friends from the Otzma Yehudit faction,” the MK vowed.
Kroizer told Army Radio on Sunday morning that he did not write the graffiti and did not disseminate the photograph.
National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz commented on the incident in a post on X, saying that MK Kroizer had made a “mistake that necessitates an inquiry and possibly disciplinary punishment.” But while he “fundamentally disagrees with” the far-right lawmaker, the centrist opposition politician added that he believes the dismissal of an MK who volunteered to fight “sends the wrong message.”
