Israeli police impersonate reporters

by AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press - Nov 6, 2007

JERUSALEM - Israeli police posed as a TV news crew to trap a one-time Palestinian informer, provoking an outcry from critics who said the sting threatened to put the lives of newspeople at risk.

Police said the target of the operation was Nadim Injaz, a Palestinian man who had been wanted for making unspecified threats.

Last year, Injaz burst into the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, claimed to have a gun, demanded political asylum and threatened suicide. Although the weapon turned out to be plastic, Injaz was convicted on charges related to the embassy storming and spent several months in prison before being released a few weeks ago.

Since his release, Injaz has made "a number of threats," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, without elaborating.

At the time of the embassy storming, police acknowledged that Injaz was once an informer. Israeli media said Injaz was upset that Israel did not do more to protect and support him. Injaz, who is originally from the West Bank, was living in Israel at the time of his arrest.

Rosenfeld said police impersonated a Channel 2 TV news team "in order to meet with the suspect and have him arrested." He noted that Injaz "had constant contact with journalists and the press, both prior and after" the embassy incident.

Injaz now awaits trial in connection with his latest arrest, he said.

Channel 2 executive director Avi Weiss sent a letter of protest to Police Commissioner David Cohen, the Haaretz newspaper reported on its Web site.

"Impersonation is liable to create the mistaken impression that the news organization is involved in some way in an investigation or other police operations, and thereby compromise its status as an objective and independent news outlet," Haaretz cited Weiss as writing.

The flow of information could also be hindered if sources are afraid to relay information to newspeople for fear of arrest, Weiss added in the letter. Weiss was not immediately available for comment.

Gadi Sukenik, a former Channel 2 anchor, said reporters' lives could be endangered if sources were to doubt a reporter's integrity as a result of the police impersonation.

"Whoever decided (on this operation) was a fool," Sukenik told Israel Radio. Such a tactic, he added, "should absolutely be beyond the pale."

Police said they contacted Channel 2, and the reporter they impersonated, to tell them about the operation — after the fact. "Police told them they posed as a reporter to apprehend the suspect and that it was crucial to do so for the case," Rosenfeld said.

The Foreign Press Association, which represents Israel-based staff of overseas media, condemned the subterfuge, saying it endangered reporters' freedom to carry out their duties and their personal security.

"Journalists depend on being judged as objective observers, and any move that threatens this crucial status, directly challenges our safety and ability to work," it said in a statement. "We urge the Israeli Police not to repeat this regrettable incident."