Israeli prosecutors filed criminal charges Sunday against a man accused of impersonating a soldier to join the Gaza war, of stealing munitions and, according to media, of posing for a front-line picture with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel was blindsided by an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage by Hamas militants, with security forces often organizing themselves spontaneously in the field to repel the infiltrators and mount a counteroffensive.
According to the indictment brought in Tel Aviv District Court, defendant Roi Yifrah never served in the Israeli military but nonetheless managed to make his way into the war zones by pretending to be a member of an elite Shin Bet combat unit.
Shin Bet is Israel's domestic intelligence agency.
The top-rated Channel 12 TV aired a photograph of what it said was the 35-year-old, in full battle gear, posing with other soldiers alongside Netanyahu at a helicopter landing site.
An Israeli official confirmed that Yifrah had posed with Netanyahu, but said the prime minister was never at risk due to “several layers of security at the site.”
The prime minister's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The ruse "facilitated (Yifrah's) access to firearms, ammunition and military and police equipment," the indictment said, adding that a purloined haul found in Yifrah's home included an assault rifle, various kinds of bullets, smoke grenades and holsters.
The five counts against him, including aggravated fraud and larceny, could amount to a maximum prison sentence of 36 years. But Yifrah's lawyer argued that the defendant should be lauded.
"My client is a medic who ... saved lives under fire, while risking his life and eliminating terrorists," the lawyer, Eitan Sabag, told Channel 12, adding that "the defendant, under the circumstances, is the State of Israel — not Roi Yifrah."
