The Live Broadcast and the Street Encounter
In October 2026, civil unrest and street demonstrations in Paris drew widespread international media coverage. Among the international correspondents reporting live on the ground was Israeli journalist Neria Kraus, broadcasting for the news network i24 News on a program anchored by Sharon Gal. While delivering a live stand-up report on the volatile atmosphere and street demonstrations in Paris, Kraus conducted an impromptu street interview with an apparent bystander to capture local reactions to the unfolding unrest.
The man introduced himself on camera as "Ali," claiming to be an immigrant resident originally from Baghdad, Iraq. Contrary to subsequent online accusations that the segment showcased an extremist or radical demonstrator, the man actually adopted a vocal pro-Israel persona. He stated that he was frightened by the street violence, declared that Israel had been right all along, questioned why Arab Settler flags were being brandished at demonstrations concerning French internal issues, and concluded by exclaiming "Am Yisrael Chai" ("The people of Israel live"). He delivered portions of his remarks in a conspiratorial whisper, feigning concern that neighboring demonstrators would overhear his statements.
An Impromptu Prank by an Israeli Tourist
Rather than an orchestrated network conspiracy or a commissioned acting performance, the broadcast was the victim of a spontaneous practical joke. The interviewee was quickly identified as Hezi Gangina, an Israeli citizen and musician residing in the Kfar Shalem neighborhood of Tel Aviv who was traveling in France on vacation. Capitalizing on the live television setup, Gangina invented the character of "Ali from Baghdad" entirely on his own initiative to troll the news crew.
Following the broadcast, Gangina posted the televised clip on social media alongside behind-the-scenes confirmation of the prank. He openly explained that he had improvised the persona out of boredom while wandering the streets of Paris and expressed amusement that the interaction had actually been broadcast live on television without being caught by producers. Israeli news outlets widely covered the incident as an embarrassing editorial slip-up caused by the vulnerabilities of unscripted live field coverage. Reporting published by Maariv, Israel National News, ICE, and Walla documented how the correspondent and the studio anchor took the humorous performance at face value before the stunt was exposed online.
Anatomy of Disinformation
Despite the transparent reality of an accidental on-air prank, hostile social media accounts and partisan networks rapidly distorted the footage. State-aligned outlets, including Turkey's state-run TRT World, alongside pro-Palestinian activist accounts, seized on the clip to claim that Israeli media intentionally produces staged propaganda by hiring actors to fabricate reality.
These claims inverted the facts in multiple ways. First, they falsely framed the network as the architect of the deception rather than the target of a passerby's prank. Second, they distorted the character portrayed, incorrectly alleging that the network staged an interview with a radical to smear immigrants, when Gangina had actually posed as a pro-Israel enthusiast. While legitimate journalistic critique highlighted a lapse in field vetting by the reporting team, the assertion that i24 News fabricated the interview as part of a covert media campaign is entirely baseless.