TikTok user Natalia Fadeev's account is somehow in the midst of a debate online as a series of her videos from the past week are being called out by some and praised by others. The former soldier with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has invited some criticism her way after standing up for the Israeli army in response to Hamas' attack this week.
Uploaded to TikTok by Natalia Fadeev (@nataliafadeev), the videos see her addressing the violence between Israel and Hamas. In the videos, she is seen wearing the complete uniform, dancing in support of her country. Each video tells a different story and have invited a fair share of criticism.
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Who is Natalia Fadeev?
The former soldier with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is often seen in her videos in uniform in support of her country and criticising Palestinians in her posts. Whether it is giving a view of the situation or mocking the other side, Fadeev's TikTok account has undoubtedly caused some stir.
With 382K followers on Instagram (on a private account), Fadeev writes that she is an IDF Military Police reservist and range officer.
She is also an Airsoft player, a competitive team shooting, in which participants take on the opposing team with plastic projectiles.
"When they tried to destroy your nation but you ended up having one of the most powerful armies," one of the TikTok videos read. The video was played over 1.1M times with 88.6K likes. "Many have already tried, so your rocks don’t scare us #standwithisrael #idf #israel," she captioned the video.
In another video, she called out those who apparently say Israel is not real. "OMW [on my way] to disappear because someone said that Israel is not a real country," she wrote in the video as she shakes her head, turns around and walks away. "Whatever you like it or not Israel is real 🇮🇱 #standwithisrael #israel #israelisnotreal #fyp #viral," she wrote.
In another video she wrote, "I proudly served as a Military Police officer for three years in the IDF now tell me, do I look like I could harm innocent civilians?" In the background, she is seen doing seemingly harmless shenanigans.
In a 2019 article in Jewish Currents, it was revealed that Fadeev is a part of a group called the Alpha Gun Angels. According to the report, the group "bill themselves as Israel’s premier gun-modelling and social media - marketing agency, are a team of nine active and veteran IDF combat soldiers turned Instagram celebrities".
Online criticism
In her comment section, there are mixed reactions. Some users send their support for Israel. "I love how so many people here think Israel is weak. You don’t mess with God’s people. Love and support from South Africa," one user commented.
There are some who didn't agree with her. "If rocks dont scare u then why reply with guns and grenades," wrote one.
Most of Fadeev's videos seem to ignore the fact that the IDF is responsible for the lives of Palestinians who reportedly died in the West Bank this week. One post on her TikTok claimed that Palestinian people are actually in danger from the Hamas and that the IDF is there to "defend us both and destroy the Hamas".
"I’m hot so I can’t commit war crimes," one user wrote, mocking Fadeev, according to a report in DailyDot.
Others took the opportunity to defend her, calling out the comments as uninformed on the conflict, which spans generations. “These comments really think they understand 100’s of years of history/conflict because they check Instagram everyday,” one user wrote.
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