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An unidentified Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier tackled a Stanford student during a tabling event in White Plaza on Wednesday afternoon.

Melanie Shiraz, who was crowned Miss Israel in 2025, and the soldier stood in White Plaza from 10 a.m. to around 4 p.m. on Wednesday with a cardboard sign that read “I’m Miss Israel. I’m an IDF Soldier. Ask us anything.” According to eyewitness accounts, Margil Sanchez Carmona ’28 took the cardboard sign from the table and began to bike away from White Plaza. The soldier then tackled Sanchez Carmona to retrieve the sign.

Shiraz and the soldier offered virtual reality (VR) headsets to passersby. The headsets played videos depicting the events of Oct. 7, 2023, specifically when Hamas attacked the Nova music festival in Israel.

Shiraz said the event’s goal was to “have productive dialogue with people and… hopefully reach some kind of, if not understanding, at least a little bit of empathy between us.”

When Sanchez Carmona took a sign from the table, Shiraz said she and the soldier thought he might have stolen a VR headset. According to Shiraz, the altercation followed a debate between those tabling and a group of Stanford students. 

Sanchez Carmona said that he rode his bike to White Plaza because he was “interested in what was going on,” after being informed that the event was happening. According to Sanchez Carmona, he stood by the outskirts of the crowd and observed as the discussion got increasingly “heated” and those tabling began to use personal insults against the gathered students.

“I don’t regret taking the poster. If I were presented with the opportunity to do it again, I still would,” Sanchez Carmona said. “If the precedent that we’re setting for discourse is violent or loud and insulting, and inherently lacking empathy for the other side, then I do not view that as civil discourse.”

Hana Spahia ’26 was taking part in a discussion with the soldier when the altercation occurred. According to Spahia, she was engaged in a debate when Sanchez Carmona, whom she did not know, took the sign. As he biked away, the soldier ran after him and tackled him to the ground to retrieve the sign. 

Spahia said she called the police after the soldier tackled Sanchez Carmona because “it appeared from [her] perspective that [the soldier] was choking the student.” According to Spahia, while she called the police “the soldier started yelling at [her] and getting in [her] personal space.”

According to Sanchez Carmona, the soldier grabbed him by the backpack and pulled him backwards, then “launched at [him] from the side,” knocking him off his bike. The soldier then put Sanchez Carmona in a chokehold, and maintained the position for “a couple of seconds.” Sanchez Carmona said he was not physically hurt by the tackle.

Shortly thereafter, campus police arrived at the scene. The Daily has reached out to the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) for comment.

The soldier declined to comment.

Shiraz characterized the gathering prior to the altercation as “hateful” and “violent.” According to Shiraz, a group of students stood around the table, “provoking [those tabling] and saying nasty things.”

“Little by little more of their friends started showing up, to the point where we were encapsulated by this group,” Shiraz said.

Spahia said that during the discussion, she “express[ed] [her] concerns of Israel’s violations of human rights, including being found guilty of apartheid by every major human rights organization.”

“I think that it is extremely irresponsible for student groups to bring in propagandists for these war crimes and violations of human rights,” Spahia said. “That is made extraordinarily clear by the fact that these former or current IDF soldiers are willing to engage in violence against students for something so silly as a cardboard sign.”

The Daily has reached out to Student Affairs Meeting Services (SAMS) for more information about how the event with Shiraz and the soldier was booked.

Stanford Democrats — of which Sanchez Carmona is a member — criticized both Sanchez Carmona’s taking of the sign and the soldier’s “use of excessive force” in a statement posted Wednesday evening on its Instagram page.

“Although we maintain that students, including our members, should uphold campus rules when engaging in discourse, we strongly condemn the violent actions of this soldier and support the Stanford Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the matter,” the statement reads.

Director of Facilities, Operations and Student Unions Jeanette Smith-Laws arrived on the scene after the soldier tackled Sanchez Carmona. According to Smith-Laws, she “heard everyone’s side” and aimed to “get all the information so the University can act accordingly.”

“[White Plaza] is a space for free speech,” Smith-Laws said. “The University cares deeply about that space being a space where people can express their ideas and opinions… Sometimes you’re not going to like what you hear, but you can still express yourself in that space.”

Kaleb Gjestson contributed reporting.