IDF accidentally distributes photo of wrong knife in attempted attack

IDF mistakenly releases old photo of knife from 2018 attack instead of evidence from this week's attempted stabbing, releases retraction

An IDF soldier at the scene of a terror attack at a bus stop near an IDF army base in Samaria. An IDF reservist soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist and a civilian woman was moderately wounded in the leg from an IDF shooting. Samaria, Oct 11, 2018 (photo credit: SHLOMO MELET/TPS)
An IDF soldier at the scene of a terror attack at a bus stop near an IDF army base in Samaria. An IDF reservist soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist and a civilian woman was moderately wounded in the leg from an IDF shooting. Samaria, Oct 11, 2018
(photo credit: SHLOMO MELET/TPS)

The IDF came under fire this past week, but it was not on any battlefield: it was on social media.

Soldiers managed to thwart an attempted stabbing attack on Tuesday after a suspect approached soldiers and pulled out a knife in the Samaria region of the West Bank. 

The IDF released a statement with the image of a knife attached – but it was not the knife used in the attempted attack. 

Users were quick to point out the error, displaying evidence of that same image being used in reference to a 2018 attack.

The IDF released a retraction the following day, saying that the wrong photograph was accidentally used due to "human error."

"Throughout the night, a picture of a knife from a thwarted stabbing attack near the Yitzhar Junction in the Samaria Regional Brigade Area was distributed," the IDF said in the statement. "Upon further investigation into the source of the image, it was found that due to human error in the transfer of documentation from the scene of the incident, the wrong knife photo was distributed."

The IDF concluded, "The incident was investigated and the relevant procedures were clarified."

The following photo was the knife that was actually used in the attempted attack.


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 Knife used in attempted stabbing in Yitzhar Junction, West Bank (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Knife used in attempted stabbing in Yitzhar Junction, West Bank (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Many continued to criticize the IDF online for misconduct regarding important criminal evidence.