An Israeli maternity ward has placed an advertisement in a newspaper which depicts a fetus in utero wearing a beret while performing a military salute, sparking furious reaction online.

The advertisement for Lis Maternity ward, part of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, features a caption in Hebrew, reading: “Received the Presidential Award of Excellence, 2038.” The full-page ad appeared in the Makor Rishon newspaper on May 18 - an online version of the paper can be seen here (the advertisement in question appears on page F27).

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RT.com has reached out to Ichilov Hospital and Makor Rishon for comment.

The striking image sparked an angry reaction on social media. Jewish Voice for Peace shared a news article about the ad along with the message: “Give peace a chance Israel.”

Pro-Palestinian activists took a dimmer view of the maternity ward’s decision and offered a more cutting analysis. Author Ali Abunimah shared the image in a tweet, saying: “They teach their children hate, domination and apartheid from before they’re even born.”

Give peace a chance Israel.Ad for Israeli maternity ward portrays fetus as future soldier https://t.co/8cTb4QmhaE via @972mag — JewishVoiceForPeace (@jvplive) May 24, 2018

The ad published in the right-wing newspaper Makor Rishon, for the Lis Maternity Hospital in #TelAviv, portrays an unborn child as a soldier and dehumanizes #Israeli children before there are even born.https://t.co/4X0TSNP2hS — Al Bawaba Node (@_thenode) May 24, 2018

They teach their children hate, domination and apartheid from before they’re even born: Ad for Israeli maternity ward depicts fetus as Israeli occupation soldier https://t.co/WPlu2M5KWMpic.twitter.com/rFMIPVSJho — Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) May 23, 2018

Pathological advert for an Israeli baby-unit depicts a fetus as a subservient, militarised, choiceless Israeli "soldier" https://t.co/bZdILrKt03 — Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) May 23, 2018

War before your baby's first breath.Such is the abuse inflicted on Jewish mothers by the cruelest of ideologies of political Zionism. Israel was never about a home for the Jewish people it was always about destroying Jews &Muslims to fill pockets of thieving, greedy war makers — Peace Unity Hope (@kindamuslim) May 24, 2018

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