Netanyahu Speech Thanking Palestinian Leadership is a Hoax
The Claim
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech thanking Palestinian leadership for uniting the people of Israel. It also gave Palestinians in Gaza 24 hours to evacuate before Israel would invade.
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Emerging story
On May 11th and 12th, various social media accounts began posting a speech that allegedly came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The speech began with the prime minister thanking the leaders of Hamas, the governing authority of Palestine. It went on to announce, “We, the people of Israel owe you a huge debt of gratitude [...] Because never before in the history of the modern State of Israel has the Jewish people been so united.”
He allegedly then gave Palestinians 24 hours to evacuate the Gaza strip, stating that the rocket attacks upon the region would cease if this happened. If not, then, “we are coming in, and, with God’s help, this time we will not leave,” the speech read. Additionally, many posts stated that Netanyahu gave this speech in front of the Knesset, the Israeli equivalent of congress/parliament.
Social media posts of the speech have gained hundreds of interactions.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: Our investigation has discovered that this is not a speech from Benjamin Netanyahu. The text has been shared numerous times in the past few years. It has been posted on Facebook in 2019 and 2014, for example.
The text originally comes from a post on a blog called “Free Thought,” from July 8th, 2014. The post ends with the text, “... and then I awoke, and it was all a dream.” One week later, the author, Shaul B, who claims to live in Israel, stated that he wrote this post due to his personal frustrations over the issue. “I penned the speech I wish we could hear from our Prime Minister,” he confessed.
This past week, Palestinian protests were met with violence from Israeli police, resulting in military attacks. These attacks have resulted in the most serious crisis between the two nations in almost a decade. As of May 13th, the death toll in Gaza stands at at least 83, with the death toll in Israel at seven.
Netanyahu has made various statements upon his trajectory for the current conflict in Gaza. He has stated that he will increase his attacks upon the region. Additionally, Israel’s defense minister has said that the attacks will increase until the area has, “total, long term quiet.”
