Israel’s foreign ministry blasted the Swiss government for funding an exhibit by the anti-IDF group Breaking the Silence, Agence France-Presse reported Wednesday.

Israel’s newly appointed deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely is determined to prevent the exhibit from taking place, ordering both the ministry and Israel’s embassy in Bern to examine ways of preventing it, ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told AFP.

“We cannot accept the actions of an organization whose aim is to smear soldiers in the Israeli army in the international arena and to cause serious harm to Israel’s image,” he said.

Israel’s ambassador had already voiced his “indignation” to the Swiss foreign ministry, Nahshon said.

A spokesman for the city of Zurich, which is sponsoring the exhibit along with the Swiss foreign ministry, called the exhibit “very balanced.” However, when it was revealed last month that the Swiss government was funding the exhibit, no synagogue was willing to host it because Breaking the Silence refused to allow Israeli soldiers tell “the other side of the story.”

[Photo: BBC News / YouTube ]