A 30-year-old Israeli was arrested for impersonating a soldier in the Gaza Strip, posing as a member of the elite forces and even being photographed next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Roi Yifrah, 35, apparently never served in the Israeli army, but was able to travel to the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been at war with Hamas since the Palestinian Islamist movement's deadly attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
According to Israeli police, he was arrested on December 17 on charges of usurping his position within the security forces and stealing weapons.
In the weeks following the Oct. 7 attack, Mr. Yifrah, a Tel Aviv resident, allegedly pretended to be a member of the Yamam Special Forces, an elite counterterrorism police unit, according to the indictment.
He even claimed to be an agent of the Shin Bet, the internal security service.
AFP
Also during Netanyahu's visit to frontline troops last week, Mr. Yifrah reportedly managed to evade security checks by posing next to him in uniform.
The indictment states that Mr. Yifrah “never performed military service and never played a role within Yamam or Shin Bet.”
Police announced the seizure of weapons from his apartment, car and his mother's house, including an assault rifle, grenades, explosive charges, bullets, military computers and a drone.
The allegations include theft of military equipment and deceiving officials to obtain additional equipment “fraudulently and under serious circumstances.”
The army did not immediately respond.
Mr Yifrah's lawyer, Eitan Sabag, said his client traveled to southern Israel on October 7 as a volunteer nurse.
“He administered first aid and rescued dozens of injured people,” he told Kan public radio.
He also claimed that Mr. Yifrah fought alongside elite Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip's Al-Rimal neighborhood, one of the territory's key battlefields.
“Why would a person who wants to steal a weapon take the allegedly stolen weapon to go deep into the Gaza Strip, to the most dangerous places?” Mr. Sabag argued.
According to the Ynet news site, his client had previously been charged with illegal possession of weapons and drugs.