A gym drama in Bali just turned into a full-blown immigration case.
Indonesia’s Denpasar Immigration Office (Imigrasi Kelas I TPI Denpasar) says it has identified two of the three foreign nationals who were caught on camera getting kicked out of a gym in Sukawati, Gianyar, and here’s the twist: both were actually born in Israel, but entered the country using European passports from completely different nations.
Born in Israel, Traveling as Europeans
According to officials, the two men aren’t who their travel documents claim they are. One, identified by the initials IB (23), was born in Israel but holds a Bulgarian passport. The other, YBH (22), is also Israeli-born but travels on a Romanian passport.
Denpasar Immigration chief R. Haryo Sakti confirmed both men flew into Bali together, landing at Ngurah Rai International Airport on August 3, 2026, aboard the same flight, EY 478. IB entered on a Visa on Arrival (VoA), while YBH came in on a standard visit visa.
Both men have now been placed on Indonesia’s immigration watchlist, officially known as the Daftar Pencarian Orang (DPO) for immigration purposes.
How It All Started: A Viral Video and a Gym Owner’s Frustration
The whole thing kicked off with a video that spread fast across Indonesian social media. It showed the owner of A Fitness confronting three foreign men on Sunday, August 16, and telling them to leave the premises immediately.
The gym owner claimed one of the men had been rude and aggressive toward staff, but the story didn’t stop there. In the now-viral clip and the posts that followed, the owner alleged that all three men were Israeli nationals with ties to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and that they’d entered Indonesia using passports from other countries to fly under the radar.
That claim alone was enough to set social media ablaze.
Adding fuel to the fire, the gym owner later said the business got hit with a wave of one-star reviews on Google shortly after the video went public, seemingly in retaliation for calling out the group.
Immigration Steps In
Once the video started making the rounds, the Intelligence and Immigration Enforcement Division at Denpasar Immigration didn’t waste time. Officers cross-checked the viral footage against immigration records and even paid a visit to A Fitness in Sukawati to verify the details firsthand.
That’s how they confirmed the mismatch between the men’s birthplace and the passports they used to enter the country, a discrepancy that’s now the central focus of the investigation.
As for the alleged IDF connection? Authorities say that part is still being looked into, and nothing has been confirmed yet.
What Happens Next
With both IB and YBH now flagged in the immigration watchlist system, the case remains open. Indonesian authorities have a track record of taking passport and visa violations seriously, especially when foreign nationals are found misrepresenting their nationality or origin, so this story is likely far from over.
The identity and passport details of the third individual involved in the original video have not yet been disclosed.
