A nearly nine-year-old photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara bidding farewell to their younger son Avner, has gone viral with a misleading claim that it shows the PM's son joining military service amid a raging conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
BOOM found that the photo was clicked in 2014 when Avner Netanyahu started his three-year mandatory army service in the Israel Defense Forces.
More than 2000 people reportedly have lost their lives in the latest conflict between Israel and Palestine. The fierce clash began after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly all-out attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 prompting Israel to launch retaliatory airstrikes and declare "a state of war".
The photo is being shared with a caption that states, "Benjamin Netanyahu blesses his son as he tends to join his national duty in the war against Hamas to protect his countrymen. We rarely find sons of political dynasties joining Indian Army in a call for national duty. Let's not forget similarly the Israel opposition leaders have also offered themselves to join the war movement."
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Right-wing X account (formerly Twitter) Megh Updates also posted the photo making a similar claim.
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on the picture and found several Israel-based news reports from December 1, 2014, carrying the same photograph.
The Times of Israel published the picture with a caption saying, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, seen with their son Avner, at Jerusalem's Ammunition Hill on December 01, 2014."
An excerpt from the article reads, "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."
The report further mentioned that Avner’s older brother, Yair, also completed his military service beforehand. "Older brother Yair, who saw out his service in the IDF’s spokesperson’s office, was the only non-commissioned soldier in the army to have a bodyguard detail, a measure usually reserved only for very senior officers," the article stated.
Benjamin Netanyahu also served as an officer in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit during his army service, the article added.
We also found a report by The Jerusalem Post mentioning the same details about the picture. As per the report, Avner began his mandatory three-year army service by enlisting in the IDF's Combat Intelligence Collection Corps.