Viral video shared by PM’s son of ‘leftists burning rabbi’s photo’ found to be fake
Disinformation watchdog says crudely spliced video, showing picture of Rabbi Chaim Druckman going up in flames, was likely disseminated by foreign agents seeking to sow discord
A video shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son that appeared to show a photo of recently deceased religious Zionist leader Rabbi Chaim Druckman being set on fire by “leftists” is a fabrication, a disinformation watchdog has found.
According to Fake Reporter, the video purporting to show a picture of Druckman being burned at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday may have been disseminated by a foreign actor looking to stir up societal divisions.
The video, which went viral on social media and was shared and then deleted by Yair Netanyahu, shows protesters marching on a highway in Tel Aviv before crudely cutting away to show a picture of Druckman being set on fire in a darkened location, and then cutting to another shot of protesters marching.
Fake Reporter, which seeks to uncover disinformation and fight polarization, found that the original video of protesters marching was filmed at an LGBTQ rally in Tel Aviv on December 29, 2022, following the swearing-in of the new government.
It was not clear where the footage of the picture of Druckman being burned originated.
Despite the clumsy integration of the footage, the video was carried by some Hebrew-language media outlets and was shared widely by Likud activists.
הסרטון שרץ על שריפת תמונתו של הרב דרוקמן הוא מזוייף, מפוברק וערוך, והופץ לראשונה על ידי פרופיל מזויף.
בשעות האחרונות רץ סרטון ערוך ומפוברק שטוען כי אתמול נשרפה תמונה של הרב דרוקמן בהפגנה בתל אביב. מדובר בפייק. pic.twitter.com/U64ZryBYkN
— פייק ריפורטר | FakeReporter (@FakeReporter) January 8, 2023
“Here the lefties are burning a picture of Rabbi Druckman at a protest yesterday,” Yair Netanyahu tweeted. “Remember what happened to Jews who destroyed a photo of Arabs at a wedding? Arrests and an indictment,” a reference to infamous footage from a 2015 wedding depicting the groom and six guests celebrating the murder of a Palestinian baby.
Researchers discovered that the Druckman video was originally published on January 1 by a Twitter account under the name Talia Efron, which is suspected of being operated by foreign agents seeking to sow disunity and political polarization. The account, opened in July 2022, has a stolen profile picture.
“Poisonous internal discourse and confusion aid the success of hostile elements in spreading lies and deepening hatred within us,” Fake Reporter said in a statement.
Yaniv Segal, who filmed the original video and was subjected to multiple police complaints by people who believed he had burnt the picture of Druckman, told Haaretz that he hoped “now that it’s clear that the video is fake, I hope that they will find whoever produced this incitement and denounce them.”
The Times of Israel Community.