Israeli Journalist Neria Kraus Falls Victim to Viral Live TV Prank in Paris
Former Channel 13 correspondent Neria Kraus fell victim to a viral live TV prank in Paris, interviewing an Israeli vacationer posing as an Iraqi migrant.
Journalist Neria Kraus, who recently left her long-time role as Channel 13's US correspondent, has found herself at the center of a viral broadcasting mishap in Paris. After departing the network following the appointment of Suleiman Maswadeh to her former post, Kraus appeared on both Channel 12 and i24NEWS to report on student protests in the French capital.
The Viral Prank on Live TV
During her reporting, Kraus interviewed a man who claimed to be an Iraqi migrant named "Ali from Baghdad." The interviewee expressed shock over the protests, telling her, "They are extremists, Israel was right, there is no connection between Free Palestine and Paris." The exchange concluded when the man asked Kraus if she was Jewish, to which she proudly replied, "A proud Jew," prompting him to say, "Shukran, shukran."
"They are extremists, Israel was right, there is no connection between Free Palestine and Paris."
Social media users quickly unmasked the prank. Model and activist Natalie Dadon shared the clip, writing that the interviewee was actually an Israeli vacationer named Hezi. The "star" of the clip gleefully admitted to the trolling, stating: "It was boring in the broken streets of Paris, so I trolled her pretending to be an Arab named Ali. I never believed they would broadcast it."
A Broader Crisis of Broadcast Verification
This incident highlights a growing vulnerability in live news broadcasting verification. It closely follows another recent embarrassing mix-up involving Channel 12, where a radio broadcaster's friend easily fooled producers by posing as a passenger during a dramatic flight hijacking scare, delivering fabricated details on air within minutes.
