Israeli Defense Forces soldier posts thirst trap TikTok videos in military uniform

A female Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] soldier who has become a viral sensation for her thirst trap TikTok videos in which she defends her country’s ‘moral military’ while dancing provocatively dressed in combat uniform has been criticised for making light of the conflict in Gaza. 

Natalia Fadeevy, who claims she spent three years as a reservist in the IDF, boosts over a million followers on TikTok and devotes much of her page to sassy pro-Israeli military content.

In one of her clips she accuses Palestinians of ‘faking funerals for the media’ and defends the Israeli army’s response to attacks from Hamas. 

She captioned another video: ‘When they tried to destroy your nation but you ended up having one of the most powerful armies.’

Pouting coquettishly with her brows and flowing locks perfectly coiffed, in another video she dances around and gyrates in her uniform, claiming: ‘I proudly served as a military police officier for three years in the IDF, now tell me, do I look like I could harm innocent civilians? Stop spreading lies about Israel, we have the most moral military[sic]!’

The recent 11 days of fighting saw around 250 people lose their lives, the majority of them Palestinians. In Gaza, the health authority said 243 Palestinians including 66 children have been killed, with more than 1,900 injured including 560 children. The WHO put the number of injured significantly higher, at 8,600. 

Israel says 12 people were killed in its territory, including one Israeli child, while 357 people have been wounded by rockets.

Both sides have declared victory following a fragile ceasefire agreement and threatened to quickly resume hostilities if the situation deteriorates again. Benjamin Netanyahu said he is ready to respond ‘with a new level of force’ while Hamas warned its ‘finger is on the trigger’ if Israel crosses a ‘red line’. 

Natalia’s clips have generated heated discussion on the platform with some TikTok users suggesting her sexy clips make light of the conflict and are an attempt by the IDF to wash over the fact its army is responsible for killing Palestinian civilians who got caught in the crossfire, with one commenting: ‘”I’m hot so I can’t commit war crimes”.’

Another remarked: ‘You don’t get a criminal pass because you’re pretty,’ while one asked: ‘How much did you get paid to post this?’ 

Though some of her followers defended her, accusing those who left negative comments of failing to understand the conflict which spans generations. One wrote: ‘These comments really think they understand 100s of years of history/conflict because they check Instagram every day.’  

As well as posting pro-Israeli military propaganda on TikTok, Natalia is a member of the Alpha Gun Angels, an Israeli gun-modelling and social media marketing agency.

On its books are good-looking former and current IDF soldiers who brandish weapons while dressed in a combination of skimpy attire and army kit. 

Another IDF poster girl causing a stir is Yael Deri, who describes herself as a member of the Ta’oz battalion in her bio. Yael has 1.2 million followers and regularly shares videos of her lip-syncing to rap videos and preening at the camera, seemingly filmed at military checkpoints.

What’s interesting is that several of Yael’s suggestive clips feature on the official IDF TikTok account, which has more than 92,000 followers, along with other videos advertising its glamorous female recruits. 

One shows a group being led by an attractive blonde during what initially looks like assault course training – but is actually a seductive well-choreographed dance routine.

It’s unclear what the IDF’s official stance is on the kind of content Natalia and Yael put out there (though the military does have guidelines which restrict ‘unbecoming’ online content).

But its glamorised TikTok account with videos of female soldiers lip-syncing to popular hits and dancing to military music certainly suggests an attempt to attract and endear itself to the younger generation of social media users.

There’s also the argument that there’s more of an appetite for military content of this nature in Israel due to its mandatory military service requirement for men and women aged between 18 and 21 – these days a social media generation. 

The IDF TikTok account has been especially active over the past few weeks during the latest flare-up – offering an antidote to videos which paint a much more distressing picture of the violent reality of the conflict. 

Footage of civilians running from Israeli air strikes has seen a rise in pro-Palestinian activism on the platform, with the hashtag #freePalestine trending. 

In response, the IDF has shared heartwarming clips of smiling, good-looking recruits and sweet moments where they’re reunited with loved ones – though its videos of male soldiers fail to gain as much traction as its ‘pretty girls with rifles’.

The IDF has always been savvy when it comes to the internet and quick to jump on trends; back in 2008, in the early days of YouTube, the IDF shared footage of air strikes on its official channel. 

Rebecca Stein, professor of cultural anthropology at Duke and author of Digital Militarism: Israel’s Occupation in the Social Media Age, said IDF’s social media presence had ‘a lot of control over the narrative’ at the time because the military had blocked media access to the Gaza strip, reports Rolling Stone. 

‘They considered themselves pioneers in the language of social media, and that was important for them,’ she said. 

‘There is a long history within Israel of military iconography favouring the beauty in uniform as a nationalist symbol. The military is using it in new ways to meet the needs of the digital moment.’   

However, Stein added that despite the IDF’s best efforts, a major shift in the social media ecosystem has meant this time around its PR strategy has failed.

‘We’re seeing this content and messaging is dwarfed by the scale of Palestinian social media usage and global solidarity,’ she told Rolling Stone.