Dated video of Netanyahu joking with Saudi blogger falsely linked to Israel-Hamas war
- Published on November 1, 2024 at 02:23
- 3 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India
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"A Saudi sheikh is blessing Netanyahu for wiping out Shia Hezbollah terrorists," read a Hindi-language X post that shared the video on October 19, 2024.
The post — which racked up more than 250,000 views -- showed a video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking to a man wearing an Arab keffiyeh.
"Hezbollah terrorists" appears to be a reference to Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanon-based group's leader who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut in September. Just days later, the cleric tipped to replace him, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in a separate strike.
The post also criticised anti-Israel protests by Muslims in India, apparently referring to demonstrations over Nasrallah's killing in Indian-administered Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority region (archived link).
The video was shared in similar posts on Facebook and X.
Israel launched "targeted" incursions on September 30 intended to push back Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon following a year of cross-border clashes with the Iran-backed group over the Gaza war (archived link).
It followed an intense Israeli bombing campaign against Hezbollah, which left more than 1,700 people dead, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.
Israel has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 people abducted that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, and 34 have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, a majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN says the figures are reliable.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are part of the "axis of resistance" aligned with Iran against Israel.
Saudi blogger
The logo of Turkish state-run broadcaster TRT can be seen in the top-right corner of the video.
A search on TRT's YouTube channel found the video posted on December 27, 2019 -- years before the Israel-Hamas war erupted (archived link).
The YouTube video title says in Arabic: "Netanyahu's call with Saudi blogger Mohammed Saud."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in false posts (left) and the video uploaded on TRT's YouTube channel (right):
Netanyahu reportedly held a FaceTime call on December 26, 2019 with Mohammed Saud, a blogger and vocal supporter of Israel, ahead of Israeli legislative elections on March 2, 2020.
Saud expressed his support for the Israeli premier and wished the success in his campaign, Middle East Eye reported (archived link).
According to the TRT's YouTube video, Netanyahu's joke that the blogger would "make a fantastic Likudnik" sparked controversy online.
The Saudi blogger previously joined a delegation of journalists from the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and Iraq's Kurdistan, who visited Israel in July 2019 (archived link).
During the visit, he was filmed being chased out of the Old City of Jerusalem by Palestinians who accused him of being a "traitor" and "Zionist".
AFP has debunked a flurry of misinformation around the Middle East conflict here.
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