Israel is carrying out investigations to an incident where soldiers formed up in the shape of the Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google logo during a visit by some of the company’s top executives.
The country’s military claimed that it launched a probe over the incident where soldiers received orders to stand in a formation that spells out the company’s logo at one of the country’s airbases. According to a report from an Israeli radio that was released on Monday, dozens of soldiers took up the formation and included two aircrafts to complete it. The event was filmed and aired publicly, and the Israeli politicians were not happy about it. They argued that the action was an improper use of military resources.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces responded by stating that the action was a local initiative carried out at the base during the executive visit. The spokesperson also noted that the matter was under an internal investigation. The report also stated that the footage was not supposed to be shared and that the action was a form of gratitude to the software and tech company.
Shelly Yachimovich, an opposition leader in the country, stated through a social media post that the action was dishonorable. Yachimovich stated that the display portrayed the privatization of the military. Yachimovich is a senior lawmaker in the Zionist Union opposition party, and she is also a former head of the country’s Labor Party. The military act was also criticized by another opposition lawmaker known as Tzipi Livni, who took to the Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) microblogging platform to air out her opinion on the matter. She stated that it does not take a search engine to identify that such displays should not be allowed.
This is not the first time that a state military has posted such images. Images circulating on social media show soldiers forming phrases such a “happy father’s day” but Israeli leaders seem to be irritated by the fact that their military display was associated with a private company.