A criminal case has opened against an Israeli soldier from Ashdod who allegedly compared the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to Hitler.

A 19-year-old IDF soldier will face criminal charges for allegedly uploading an offensive photo of the late Talmudic leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and comparing him to anti-Semitic Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

The soldier uploaded the photo onto his Facebook page and within 5 minutes of it being posted the photo was removed.

The police were notified of the incident after expert researchers, who deal with cyber-offenses, managed to locate the source of the post and trace it to the 19-year-old IDF soldier of Ashdod.

Noam Shekel, the Chief Superintendent of the Ashdod police station, considered the incident an abusive message against Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of Blessed Memory.

Police investigators identified the soldier and called to order that he immediately remove the offensive post.

The soldier argued with the police on issues of freedom of expression, however, the investigators continued to order him to remove the hateful post. The soldier eventually complied and removed the offensive message.

At the same time, police filed a criminal case against the soldier that will be further continued upon a military police investigation.

The police stressed that the quick response of the expert researchers prevented harm to the Rabbi's family and his millions of followers. Additionally, the station insisted that it will not allow any sort of abusive material to surface in the future.