Official: Netanyahu has not seen controversial AI campaign video of Eisenkot

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Screenshot from an AI-generated ad shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 21, 2026, against election rival Gadi Eisenkot. (Screenshot via Facebook)
Screenshot from an AI-generated ad shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 21, 2026, against election rival Gadi Eisenkot. (Screenshot via Facebook)

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not seen the Likud campaign AI video that critics say cruelly depicts Yashar chief Gadi Eisenkot choosing to embrace Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas instead of his late son Gal, a senior Israeli official claims.

The video was posted on Netanyahu’s own X account, sparking immediate uproar and a denial from the Likud Party that the young man in the clip was meant to depict Eisenkot’s son, an IDF soldier who was killed in the Gaza war.

Nonetheless, an Israeli official briefing reporters covering Netanyahu’s visit in Washington claims that the premier has yet to watch the video, even if he was made aware of the reactions to it.

The official says it would be best if all campaigns avoided weighing in on candidates who have lost family members, claiming Netanyahu’s rivals have also made light of him being the brother of a fallen soldier — Entebbe hero Yoni Netanyahu, who was killed in the famed 1976 raid.

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