Misleading Photo Shared as Officer Who Handed Over Palestinian Escapees
The Claim
An image of the Druze policeman who turned in escaped Palestinian prisoners.
News posted on
Emerging story
Users on social media have been circulating a photo that they claim is of a Druze policeman who turned in the Palestinian who recently escaped from Gilboa prison. Users added that his name is Salim Khalid Zgairy, and he is a resident of Nazareth.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: Misbar investigated the claim and found that it was misleading. A search of credible news sources did not reveal any reports of a Druze policeman named Salim Khalid Zgairy, who played a role in handing over the escaped prisoners. Furthermore, journalist Fadi Zgairy released a statement on his Facebook account. He said that no one in the Zgairy family by that name, nor has anyone in his family served in the Israeli police force. He added that they are a Christian, peaceful and patriotic family.
According to the policeman's name tag on his uniform, the man in the image is Raz Ventou. The Misbar team searched for the image and found that it had been published on the Israeli Ministry of Internal Security website since September 2017 as an artistic image of a recruitment campaign.
It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation forces have captured four of the six prisoners who escaped from Gilboa prison during the past two days. Israeli media said that intelligence information had reached the police indicating the two prisoners hiding before their arrest. Given the findings, the Misbar team confirms the image is misleading.
