Benjamin Netanyahu mocks Joe Biden using ‘doctored video’ as fodder

Israel‘s former premier Benjamin Netanyahu mocked US President Joe Biden by imitating him falling asleep during a meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Netanyahu made the gestures imitating the US President during a Facebook live session.

For the unversed, several weeks ago, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party shared a video (reportedly doctored) of Joe Biden’s meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Twitter. The video insinuated that Biden fell asleep during the meeting when the PM was talking.

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The video, at that time, went viral on social media platforms, especially among Netanyahu’s supporters with more than 5 million views.

Following the buzz, Reuters and other media outlets run a fact check on the video. The probe found that the video, which shows Biden falling asleep during the meeting, was doctored and misleading. Twitter designated the tweet as ‘manipulated content.’

Despite the claim, Netanyahu during his Facebook live session on Sunday spoke about Bennett’s meeting with Biden and said that he heard that the US President was very attentive during the meeting with Bennet and dropped his head in agreement.

“I heard Biden was very attentive to what Bennett had to say… He dropped his head in agreement,” Netanyahu said while imitating Biden and dropping his head,” said the former PM imitating Biden dozing off.

After receiving criticism from a section of social media users and Israeli media for repeating the debunked claim, Netanyahu issues clarification on the matter.

Netanyahu issued a statement blaming the media for showing ‘a manipulative picture’ and denied that he criticised Biden.

“Former Prime Minister Netanyahu knows and cherishes president Biden as a friend of Israel for 40 years. His criticism was directed only at Naftali Bennett who spoke at length about nothing during his visit to the White House,’ the Likud Party said in a statement.