Opinion Official portraits show Israeli soldiers turning their backs on the camera, ostensibly to protect them from prosecution for war crimes. The gesture is a tacit admission of guilt. May 13, 2026 — 2 min read IDF soldiers' official portraits, released in May 2025 (images via IDF Press Releases ) Hiding serves abuse. Nowhere is this vile gesture more embodied than in official portraits of Israeli soldiers with their backs to the viewer . Troops turn their backs on the camera as they have on human rights, exhibiting a cover-up in the most literal sense of the word. Hiding so as to avoid identification and prosecution for war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, these soldiers weaponize the same algorithmic surveillance and facial recognition software they utilize to harass others; concealing the abuser while unveiling the abused. Technologies such as these are now operating outside the domain of militaries and governments, having migrated into the most prosaic moments.…