An Israeli woman from northern Israel discovered that the man she had lived with for more than a year, married and had a child with was allegedly a Gaza resident living in Israel illegally after police stopped him over a traffic violation, according to an indictment filed Thursday.
Saher Brik, 29, from Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, is accused of living in Israel unlawfully for years while posing as a young Israeli man from Rahat. Prosecutors say he used the false identity to win the woman’s trust, marry her and build a family with her.
Israeli woman discovers husband, father of her child is Gaza resident after traffic stop
The case, filed by attorney Maya Shiloni of the Valleys Prosecution Office, will be heard at the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court.
According to the indictment, the woman had no reason to suspect that Brik was using another person’s identity until officers in Migdal HaEmek noticed him driving on a city road in a vehicle with tinted windows.
Chief Inspector Taghrid Zidan, head of investigations and intelligence at the Migdal HaEmek police station, said Brik stopped after officers signaled him and provided the name and identification number of a Rahat resident.
At first, the details appeared legitimate. A check of the police database, however, showed that the Israeli citizen whose identity he had allegedly used did not have a driver’s license.
Brik was taken in for questioning so officers could determine why he was driving without a license. At the station, he was unable to provide further personal details and eventually admitted that he was a Gaza resident, police said.
Investigators continued questioning him after discovering his alleged identity.
“We asked where exactly he was going, and he told us he was on his way to the hospital to visit his wife, who was undergoing an examination after giving birth,” Zidan said. “We then contacted his wife to question her on suspicion of harboring someone staying illegally in Israel.”
According to Zidan, the woman was stunned to learn that the man she had been married to for more than a year was from Gaza. She had recently given birth to their first child.
During a search of the couple’s home, officers found a photograph from their wedding night bearing the name of the Israeli citizen Brik was accused of impersonating.
“Her family came to the station and was in complete shock when they realized their daughter had married a Gaza resident,” Zidan said. “They were horrified by the thought that she had brought into her home someone who could have placed her at risk of becoming involved in a criminal case.”
During a confrontation between the couple, the woman repeatedly referred to Brik by the name of the Israeli man whose identity he had allegedly assumed, refusing to believe that she had married a Gaza resident, Zidan said.
Staff Sgt. Maj. Rami al-Assad, an investigator at the Migdal HaEmek station who worked on the case, said the woman broke down in tears during the confrontation.
“She is married to him for more than a year, eats with him, drinks with him, and suddenly discovers that she does not know the person she is living with,” he said. “We woke her from a nightmare.”
According to al-Assad, the woman thanked investigators for uncovering the alleged deception.
“She said that otherwise, we could have continued living this lie, and I could have gone on living with someone without knowing his true identity,” he said.
Brik was charged with entering or remaining in Israel illegally, driving without a license, driving without insurance, impersonating another person with intent to defraud, obstructing a police officer and unlawfully tinting the vehicle’s windows.
Attorney Sirin Ashkar Rok, who represents Brik on behalf of the Public Defender’s Office, said he was a law-abiding man who had worked honestly to support himself in Israel.
“His family is originally from Israel,” she said. “He entered Israeli territory before October 7 and was unable to return to Gaza. Once we receive the investigative materials, we will consider our next steps.”