Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hospitalized with “serious health issue.”
Social media posts spread false claims about Benjamin Netanyahu’s health
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Nov. 18 before a committee in the country’s Knesset. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., met with Netanyahu Nov. 16 in Jerusalem.
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There are no credible news reports that Netanyahu was recently hospitalized.
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An image that accompanied a social media post claiming Netanyahu was ill has been used to spread false claims about his health as far back as 2023.
Social media posts said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hospitalized with a serious illness. That would be news to members of Israel’s Knesset, where Netanyahu spoke Nov. 18.
A Nov. 18 Threads post said “BREAKING: PM NETANYAHU HOSPITALISED. He suffered serious health issue in Kiryah and has been shifted to a hospital in Tel Aviv.” It included an image of Netanyahu wearing an oxygen mask in a hospital bed it described as an “archive pic.”
We found numerous social media posts shared Nov. 17 and 18 that shared the same words and image on Facebook, Threads, TikTok and X. Some X posts that shared it cited a Telegram post in Hebrew that, according to Google Translate, attributed the claim to unnamed sources but provided no evidence.
The Threads post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
Netanyahu has not recently been hospitalized. We searched Google and Nexis news archives and found no credible news reports that he had. Nor did Netanyahu’s government website or social media accounts include any references to Netanyahu being hospitalized.
(Screenshot from Threads)
Netanyahu was hospitalized in March, when he had successful hernia surgery at a Jerusalem hospital; he was released April 2.
Netanyahu spoke Nov. 18 in a closed-door session before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Israeli news reports said. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he met Nov. 16 with the prime minister in Jerusalem.
We did a reverse image search of the Netanyahu hospital bed image and found it has been used before to sow misinformation about his health. Fact-checkers at Logically Facts reported in April that the image was likely generated by artificial intelligence.
BBC Verify fact-checker Shayan Sardarizadeh debunked the image as AI-generated in a Nov. 7, 2023 X post about a false TikTok that claimed Netanyahu was “suddenly hospitalised.”
Social media claims that Netanyahu is hospitalized with a serious illness are False.
Our Sources
Threads post, Nov. 17, 2024 (archived)
Telegram post, Nov. 17, 2024
The Times of Israel, Netanyahu has successful hernia surgery at Jerusalem hospital, March 31, 2024
The Times of Israel, Netanyahu: Israel will reevaluate its ability to act against Iran’s nuclear program once Trump takes office, Nov. 18, 2024
The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu: We’ll bring back scores of hostages, hopefully soon, Nov. 18, 2024
The Jerusalem Post, PM Benjamin Netanyahu released from hospital after hernia surgery, April 2, 2024
Axios, Lindsey Graham told Netanyahu "do what you have to do" on Iran's nuclear program, Nov. 16, 2024
Logically Facts, Photo of Benjamin Netanyahu in a hospital bed is AI-generated, April 4, 2024
BBC Verify fact-checker Shayan Sardarizadeh, X post, Nov. 7, 2023
