Elis Gjevori for Middle East Eye
Albanian authorities are being urged to arrest and try Israeli rabbi Yoel Kaplan for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during what is being described as Israel's genocide in Gaza, Middle East Eye exclusively reveals.
On Wednesday, a request against Yoel Kaplan, the Israeli-American citizen, active soldier in the Israeli army and leader of the small Jewish community in Albania, was submitted to the attorney general in Tirana.
Kaplan divides his time between Israel, Albania and Thessaloniki, Greece, where he also runs a small Jewish community. He has been photographed in Gaza and videos show him in military uniform near the 55th Battalion of the 98th Division of the Israeli army.
The International Center for Justice for Palestine (ICJP), a British human rights organization, announced on Wednesday that it had filed an official request with Albanian police regarding a member of the Israeli military suspected of participating in war crimes.
“We have reason to believe that this person is currently in Albanian jurisdiction and the police should urgently launch investigations and make an arrest,” the statement said. For legal reasons, the ICJP has not made the suspect’s name public.
Sources in Albania have confirmed to Middle East Eye that the suspect is Kaplan. In March, the ICJP launched the Global 195 Coalition, an international legal network that pursues war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Gaza.
Division 98 operated in Gaza from December 2023 to August 2024 and was believed to be active in the Khan Younis area, south of the Gaza Strip.
MEE reported dozens of civilian casualties during Kaplan's unit's operations in Khan Younis, where much of the town was destroyed or damaged before the division moved to Lebanon in October 2024.
Kaplan's battalion was present in Khan Younis when Israeli forces fired on children and attacked hospitals, ambulances and schools housing thousands of civilians.
Albania’s chief rabbi, appointed by the government in 2010 without the support of most of Albania’s small Jewish community, is being prosecuted under Article 7 of the Albanian Criminal Code, which deals with foreign citizens who commit crimes abroad, including “crimes against humanity.”
As a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Albania has a legal obligation to investigate, according to the ICJP.
Rabin's mission to the Balkans
In September 2024, MEE published videos on social media showing Kaplan celebrating on top of a tank amid widespread destruction in Gaza.
“Rabbi Yoel Kaplan, Chabad representative in Albania, who returned to Israel after October 7 and has been fighting Hamas since the beginning of the conflict, blew the shofar for the soldiers in Gaza,” the caption read.
Following this revelation, MEE contacted Kaplan about his role in Gaza.
“I’m very active in the military and I think this is the moment to be active, because if not in this war, when?” Kaplan said, emphasizing that Israel fights “for Jewish families” around the world.
Kaplan, born in Brooklyn, New York, later immigrated with his family to Israel, where he settled in the city of Safed.
He studied at religious seminaries in Jerusalem and New York and completed his studies in 1998.
The rabbi is part of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, one of the largest Hasidic groups in the world, with about 90,000 members.
Its ultra-Orthodox and messianic ideology has often been linked to harsh policies of colonization. Kaplan has aligned himself with this line, which sees the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as a divine mission.
In the Balkans, the Chabad movement, which had no presence before Kaplan's arrival in Albania, now has branches in the region.
Kaplan left Albania after October 7, 2023, and told MEE that he chose to "show up and be part of my military unit" in the war in Gaza.
In November 2024, Kaplan told MEE that he had just returned from fighting in Lebanon, where Israel had launched an invasion on October 1.
Kaplan at the front
Open information indicates that the 98th Division withdrew from Gaza in August 2024 and moved to northern Israel in late September, consistent with Kaplan's statement.
In September 2024, Israeli Channel 14 broadcast footage showing Rabbi Yoel Kaplan in military uniform and with a gun at his side, blowing the shofar in front of a tank in Rafah.
Kaplan considered his role as reinforcing the soldiers' messianic faith before battle, giving them "the shofar of the Messiah, the salvation we all await and hope for."
He explained that the main mission was “strengthening the spirit of the warriors,” and that it was “essential” to explain to them that “they are part of a complete plan of salvation for the people of Israel, and each of them carries out a critical mission.”
He experienced strong emotions when rallying soldiers for war, and after a meeting with his eldest son in Gaza, he declared that he was “with great pride that father and son were in the war.”
Israel's brief war with Hezbollah ended on November 28, 2024 with a ceasefire, but Israel continued attacks on Lebanon, breaking the ceasefire and killing hundreds of people.
“It’s a huge effort that we’re putting in — me and some of the soldiers that I work with, including my son, who’s also an officer … we’re doing a lot,” Kaplan said. “I’m very proud of that.”
"I know some will see the war in the wrong light, but who cares? We are very focused on our duty and at the right time we are doing it with great privilege," he added.
When asked about his experiences in Gaza and Lebanon, Kaplan backed off and said, “I’d rather not talk about the details, especially not to the media. I’d rather not talk about it these days, especially to myself, because I travel a lot – I’d rather not make that part of the experience public.”
Kaplan was perhaps concerned because organizations like the Hind Rajab Foundation and the ICJP's Global Coalition 195 are pursuing Israeli political and military figures for war crimes, building cases for international courts.
In January, the Israeli army restricted active-duty soldiers from posting on social media due to fears that the information could be used in courts abroad.
"I have the support of the Albanian government"
Israel's actions in Gaza have also sparked protests in Albania.
Kaplan dismissed the pro-Palestinian protests in Albania as insignificant, saying: “We know they’re joking… bad publicity is always publicity.”
"I have the support of the government. I don't think it will have any impact at all," the rabbi said.
When asked if there was tension between his participation in Israeli wars and his role as spiritual leader of the Albanian Jewish community and more broadly in the Balkans, he answered briefly: “No.”
On the Albanian state television RTSH, Kaplan is presented as an apolitical person, a man of peace and interfaith dialogue.
He asked MEE several times not to report on his role in the war in Gaza, even though the interview is on the record.
He repeated: "I prefer not to mention this on your part. I don't want to make an issue of this. Please don't mention it and don't make it part of the interview."
Kaplan wanted to focus on Jewish life in Albania and the Balkans.
On the day MEE interviewed him, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
“All Jews should be saddened by this decision,” Kaplan said.
"I'm not part of your interview"
When asked about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Kaplan repeated the Israeli government's now-discredited propaganda arguments that Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid.
He became upset and claimed to have held “with my ten fingers, the babies that the terrorists put in the oven.” There is no evidence for these claims.
"I have no opinion on that," Kaplan said when asked if he supports a two-state solution, a Palestinian state next to an Israeli state.
For the question regarding the settlements in the occupied West Bank, Kaplan offered to connect MEE with the Israeli embassy in Albania.
He also said he has no comment and "does not know" about the ICJ and ICC investigations into Israeli leaders and military forces for crimes in Gaza.
When asked if he feels tension between his duties as an Israeli military reservist and his duties as chief rabbi in Albania, Kaplan said: “No, many rabbis in the world are part of that.”
“I’m not interested in talking about these issues… I’m not part of your interview,” Kaplan said. “The interview is over and it didn’t happen on my part. I have nothing to say on the subject, and that’s it.”
On his WhatsApp profile during the interview, he was pictured leading the prayers of soldiers in Gaza.
After the interview, he immediately deleted the photo. MEE sent a request to the Chief Rabbi of Albania for comment on the legal case being pursued against him, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
