German-Israeli soldier sues German and British media over false war crimes allegations

A dual German-Israeli national and sniper in the Israeli military, identified as “C,” has sued the British news outlet The Guardian and several German media organizations after they falsely identified him and a colleague, “G,” as war criminals following the Gaza war against Hamas.

In addition to The Guardian, the factually inaccurate coverage involved Der Spiegel, ZDF, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), and Paper Trail Media.

“The whole article is about my client who wasn't even there,” the defendant’s lawyer, Joachim Nikolaus Steinhoefel, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “I have affidavits from his commanding officers in the IDF saying he wasn’t at the location at the time of the events. They just made that up."

“C. gave an interview to a very shady Palestinian activist who said it is for a completely different purpose and recorded him when he was allegedly off the record,” Steinhoefel explained. “They had a five-hour interview, they cut that together in 40 minutes, edited it misleadingly, and in this interview, C. says ‘my partner shot certain individuals of the Doghmosh clan.'"

Gazan journalist activist Younis Tirawi violated the terms by publishing parts of the interview online. Soldier C. never specifically mentioned his sniper partner G. in the controversial interview. However, The Guardian eventually identified G. as a German-Israeli national and published a photo with his full name without any consent or confirmation from the involved individuals. 

One line in the controversial report stated, “C. and G.’s location has been traced from photos and videos taken by Israeli soldiers showing the two snipers aiming their weapons through a window and a hole in the wall.”

G’s identity, with his name and photo, spread quickly on social media and on German and Arab news outlets. He was falsely accused of war crimes and received threats to his life as a result of the unlawful and factually inaccurate publication. 

“Imagine that a guy who has nothing to do with that is exposed with his name and picture as a killer of innocent civilians, and then it goes viral. It is unbelievable. It fits very well in this antisemitic narrative of The Guardian and several other media outlets.” Steinhoefel said. 

“What we are witnessing here is not only a complete disregard for basic journalistic principles, it is an almost activist, anti-Israel witch hunt by media outlets such as Spiegel, ZDF, and others against an innocent person,” the lawyer explained, stressing that the false identification resulted in an “almost irreversible global threat” to G.’s personal safety.

International efforts to slander Israeli soldiers as “war criminals” have increased dramatically since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The goal of the legal warfare has been to undermine the Jewish state’s legitimate right to self-defense against Hamas and other enemies that openly seek Israel’s destruction. 

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), an anti-Israel lawfare organization, had by January 2025 filed at least 12 cases against Israeli soldiers for alleged “war crimes” in Gaza.