Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, President of Shurat HaDin, warned that attempts to pursue IDF soldiers through legal proceedings abroad are escalating, as pro-Palestinian organizations monitor soldiers and veterans and seek their arrest in foreign countries.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News, Darshan-Leitner described the threat facing IDF soldiers, reservists, and veterans traveling overseas and outlined Shurat HaDin's efforts to provide them with legal assistance.

"There is an escalating threat against IDF soldiers being launched by pro-Palestinian organizations that are chasing IDF soldiers around the world, monitor them on social media, and once they enter a foreign country, they rush to this country, which has universal jurisdiction, and file arrest warrants against these IDF soldiers," she said.

In response, Shurat HaDin has launched an app called Shachpatz, named after the Hebrew word for a protective vest.

The app provides soldiers with information about precautions to take before traveling abroad, including guidance concerning their social media activity and instructions on what to do if they are detained or questioned in another country.

It also provides contact information for Israeli embassies and consulates around the world and allows users to contact Shurat HaDin's legal war room.

"We have 600 lawyers from 17 different countries ready to give legal aid if something happens," Darshan-Leitner said. The app also enables soldiers, their friends, or family members to report incidents and provides alerts about developments abroad.

"It's to alert the IDF soldiers, the reservists, the veterans, the people that sacrificed their lives for Israel, to protect them," she explained.

According to Darshan-Leitner, incidents have already arisen in countries including Canada, Belgium, and Norway. In some cases, she said, Israeli diplomatic representatives have warned soldiers to leave the country.

Asked whether soldiers have flown back to Israel as a result of such warnings, Darshan-Leitner responded, "Yes, yes."

"It's a real threat," she stressed.

Darshan-Leitner argued that the organizations pursuing soldiers do not necessarily possess evidence that the individuals they target committed war crimes.

"Even if somebody took a photo of himself near a bombed building, that's not evidence enough to show that he committed war crimes," she said, describing the allegations made against soldiers.

She added that Shurat HaDin initially believed the efforts were focused on soldiers accused of specific actions, but said the pattern they are now seeing is broader.

"They don't even care if you served in Gaza or Lebanon. The mere fact that he wears IDF uniforms is enough to bring an arrest warrant against him," she said.

Darshan-Leitner also warned soldiers about posting photographs from their military service on social media, saying that even material shared privately can still reach unintended recipients.

"It slips. It goes out. People see," she said. "Even if mistakenly they forward it to somebody else, it's exposed."

Darshan-Leitner said that the IDF has its own mechanisms for investigating allegations involving soldiers and argued that the legal efforts abroad are intended to intimidate and harass them.

"So what they're trying to do, this pro-Palestinian organization, is only to harass the IDF soldiers, is to intimidate them. That's their goal," she said.

Darshan-Leitner also discussed a recent case in Britain involving a dual British-Israeli citizen who responded to an IDF call-up on October 8 and joined his unit in Israel.

According to Darshan-Leitner, a pro-Palestinian organization filed a private criminal complaint against the soldier based on an old British law concerning citizens joining a military engaged in a war with a country with which Britain is not at war.

She said the court ultimately dismissed the case.

"The court was very angry. The British judge said that this is a political harassment complaint," Darshan-Leitner said, adding that the court imposed a financial penalty on the plaintiffs.

Darshan-Leitner said Shurat HaDin subsequently initiated complaints with the Bar Association and Ethics Committee against an Israeli lawyer who provided a legal opinion in support of the complaint against the soldier. She added that the organization is considering additional steps.

Looking ahead, Darshan-Leitner warned that the legal campaigns against Israeli soldiers are only beginning.

"It becomes very, very dangerous out there," she said. "Their victory will be a photo of an IDF soldier in handcuffs, getting arrested in a foreign airport. That's all they need. One photo."

Darshan-Leitner said Shurat HaDin has also approached the US Department of Justice and asked it to investigate pro-Palestinian organizations involved in such efforts.

"Their entire goal is just to intimidate IDF soldiers, to harass them," she said. "It starts with IDF soldiers. It will end with American soldiers. And it's time for the Department of Justice in the United States to investigate and to sanction these organizations."

Asked whether the Department of Justice had responded, Darshan-Leitner said, "They took our complaint seriously, and they are looking into it."