“As long as his body isn’t here, the trauma and emotional pain persist,” said another. “You don’t believe them … that they [the government] are truly with us … you feel despair, uncertainty about who will help us.”
According to the website Know Your Meme, which documents online trends, the phrase originated after Israeli artist Albert Levy posted a TikTok video in which he appeared in uniform and wrote, “I’m an artist from Israel and this is my art,” while showing his paintings. The video drew polarized reactions — some commenters praised his work, while others called it “materialistic” and “soulless.”
That clip laid the groundwork for the first known use of the term a year later, in May 2025, when a user on X commented under a video of a matcha rave in Dubai, writing: “This is Spiritually Israeli.” The post received nearly 10,000 likes and helped propel the phrase across social networks.
Goldin was killed in August 2014 during a cease‑fire in the Gaza war known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge. For over 11 years, he was officially listed as a fallen soldier whose resting place remains unknown. His family waged a heroic fight to bring him home, and long before the war they had demanded that Gaza not be rebuilt without his return.
First published: 08:29, 11.10.25