Photo does not depict US soldiers praying before being deployed to ‘defend Israel’

A photo of people in camouflage uniforms kneeling over folding chairs, some with their hands raised in the air, is being shared amid the Israel-Hamas war. 

"American soldiers praying for their country, for Israel before being deployed to defend Israel," one Nov. 3 Facebook post of the photo said.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

But this photo predates the current conflict in Israel. 

In October 2017, a Facebook account posted the same picture and wrote, "Powerful image of U.S. soldiers praying together after a Chapel service in Fort Benning, Georgia." 

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We reached out to Fort Moore, the U.S. Army training base in Georgia formerly known as Fort Benning, to ask about this description but didn’t immediately hear back. 

The photo has been misused before. In 2022, some social media users shared it, saying it showed "Ukrainian soldiers praying." 

That wasn’t true, and neither is the suggestion that it shows American soldiers before they’re dispatched to the Middle East for the Israel-Hamas war. 

We rate that claim False.