DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Amidst the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas launched a surprise attack, multiple videos and images with different claims have cropped up on the internet. One of the viral images claims that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent his son to join the Army.
The viral tweet shows a picture of Benjamin Netanyahu with a young man. The tweet reads, “What a Leader. A true Patriotism: Benjamin Netanyahu sending his son on National Duty to Participate in the war against Hamas. Israeli Army.”
The tweet claims that Benjamin Netanyahu’s son will join the Israeli army to fight against Hamas amidst the conflict.
🚨What a Leader A true Patriotism:
Benjamin Netanyahu sending his son on National Duty to Participate in the war against Hamas. Israeli Army.#HamasMassacre #PalestineUnderAttack #Israel #HamasTerrorism #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #Gaza_under_attack #Hamas #Palestine #Israel pic.twitter.com/uxTZfSdmLo— Jiten sharma (@jitensharma_) October 11, 2023
The image has also been shared with the same claim here, here, and here with the same claim.
The Digiteye India team received a request on WhatsApp to fact-check this viral image.
FACT CHECK
The Digiteye India team ran a Reverse Image Search on Google to check the claim’s veracity. One of the results led us to this post by Friends of LIBI, an Israeli website that supports Israeli soldiers. In a post dating back to December 4, 2017, the website shared this image for a post which claimed that “Israeli Prime Minister’s Son Avner Netanyahu Completes Army Service.”
This led us to look for more images of Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Avner. We conducted a keyword search and one of the results led us to this post by The Times Of Israel. The article, dating back to December 1, 2014, stated that Netanyahu was seeing off his son as he was joining the mandatory army service. The news publication published the same picture with the caption, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, seen with their son Avner, at the Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill on December 01, 2014.”
The article mentions, “Avner Netanyahu, the youngest son of Israel’s prime minister, began his military service in the Israel Defense Forces on Monday after being given a heartfelt sendoff by his parents, who came along to see him board the bus.”
Israel has a policy that requires every Israeli citizen, aged above 18, who is Jewish, Druze or Circassian to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. There are some exceptions. Once the citizens are enlisted, they are supposed to serve in the army for a specified number of days. Men are expected to serve for a minimum of 32 months, while women are expected to serve for a minimum of 24 months. The citizens serve in units that range from elite combat units to combat support units.
The claim is, hence, false.
CLAIM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent his son, Avner, to join the Israeli army amidst the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
CONCLUSION: The viral image is from 2014 when Benjamin Netanyahu went to see off his son before he was enlisted for mandatory army service.
RATING: ??? – Misrepresentation
