Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar! party forced Yonatan Urich, a close adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday to delete an AI generated video showing US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu joking in Hebrew at Eisenkot’s expense.
Urich posted the video on X/Twitter earlier in the day and shortly afterward received a warning letter from Eisenkot’s attorneys ahead of possible legal action. Urich has since deleted the post.
Sources close to Eisenkot noted that, while Urich was the one who posted, the voice behind it was Netanyahu’s and that of the Likud party.
“Throughout Israel’s history, its prime ministers have traveled overseas as representatives of the people of Israel and the State of Israel,” read the letter sent to Urich by the party’s attorney, Uri Haberman.
“In that spirit, we all expected and hoped that the US president would give the prime minister a warm and welcoming reception, and we wished for the visit’s success. We regret that instead of focusing on securing important diplomatic achievements, you chose, once again, to exploit the occasion to spread poison and venom.”
Video posted by Netanyahu's official account sparked outrage
Last week, Netanyahu posted an AI generated video on his official X account that sparked widespread outrage among the Israeli public.
In the video, a young man wearing a white shirt bearing the words “Unity of Israel” is seen running toward Eisenkot. Eisenkot walks past him and embraces Mansour Abbas.
To many, the young figure resembled Eisenkot’s son, Gal, who was killed in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the Swords of Iron War.
Walla asked readers whether they believed the Likud video targeting Eisenkot had crossed the line.
Seventy five percent responded, “This time they really went too far,” while only 21% responded, “People are just looking for reasons to criticize them.” Another 4% responded, “I have no opinion on the matter.”