Old photograph of actor Gal Gadot joining IDF resurfaces amid Israel-Gaza conflict

What's the claim? 

Social media users have shared a picture of actor Gal Gadot carrying a backpack with the caption, “Israeli actress Gal Gadot who played Wonder Woman in the Hollywood movie turns up at for army service.” The picture was shared out of context by other social media users with hashtags about the current conflict. Archive posts can be seen here and here. 

Screenshot of social media posts with an image of Gal Gadot showing up for military service. (Source: X/Screenshot)

Some of these posts were shared by users in India, mocking Indian actors and asking them to make an example out of Gadot. Archives of such posts can be seen here, here, and here. 

As the posts gained traction on social media, users mistook the picture as recent, sharing it in the context of the recent conflict in the Middle East. Archives of such posts can be seen here, here, and here. 

Screenshots of the social media posts. (X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that this image is old and unrelated to the recent Israel-Hamas war. The initial social media posts have been misinterpreted and shared by others as recent. 

What did we find? 

We conducted a reverse image search of the viral image and found several news articles and social media posts that predate the Israel-Hamas conflict. One such post by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) on Instagram, dated June 27, 2023, had a caption that read, “Even then we knew you would be a star ⭐️@gal_gadot.” This shows that the image has been online before the start of the current conflict in October 2023. 

Another post on X (formerly Twitter) by Yediot Ahronot, an Israeli publication based out of Tel Aviv, dated June 9, 2017, read, “#wonderwoman @GalGadot first day in the Israeli army. Great photo by Shaul Golan, @YediotAhronot.” This post credited Shaul Golan, a photographer of Yediot Ahronot, for this image. We have contacted Golan and this check will be updated once we have a response. 

Screenshots of the social media posts with the image that predate the ongoing conflict. (Source: IDF/Yediot Ahronot/Screenshot)

We also found several news articles that noted that Gal Gadot served in the IDF during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. An article by the Jewish News U.K. dated December 10, 2019, also contained the same viral image and noted that she served in the IDF in 2006. The article also noted that this picture was taken when she was 18. 

According to the IDF’s official website, it is mandatory for all Israeli citizens above the age of 18 who are Jewish, Druze, or Circassian to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Enlisted men need to serve for a minimum of 32 months, and women need to serve for a minimum of 24 months. 

Incidentally, in 2017, the Hollywood movie "Wonder Woman" featuring Gal Gadot was banned in Lebanon over her participation in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, a report by the Washington Post said. According to reports, Gal Gadot served as a combat fitness instructor between 2005 and 2007. 

According to recent news reports, Gal Gadot is helping organize the screening of a 47-minute video by the IDF in multiple U.S. cities to portray the “horrific acts carried out by Hamas.” This news has received mixed reactions on social media.

The verdict 

The now-viral image of actor Gal Gadot is old, around the time she served in the IDF between 2005 and 2007. This image has been misinterpreted by some social media users and shared in the context of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.