Fact Check: Image of Israel PM Netanyahu and wife sending their son to military service makes a MISLEADING claim
Military service is compulsory for majority of Israelis when they turn 18. Men have to serve 32 months and women have to serve for 24 months.
NetanyahuSon
Military service is compulsory for majority of Israelis when they turn 18. Men have to serve 32 months and women have to serve for 24 months. After this mandatory service, most of them can be called up to reserve units until the age of 40, in case of an emergency like the ongoing war with the Hamas militants.
Amidst the war underway between Israel and Hamas militants from Gaza, several old and out of context images and videos are going viral relating them to it. A picture of Israeli Prime minister Netanyahu and his wife, along with their son, is going viral with the claim that he is being sent off to war.
The claim in Telugu goes as “ఇజ్రాయెల్ ప్రధాని కొడుకు యుద్ధానికి దిగుతున్నాడు. తమ కుమారుడికి వీడ్కోలు పలకడంతో తల్లిదండ్రులు గర్వంగా ఉన్నారు. ఈ చిత్రం, ఈ భావన ఇజ్రాయెల్ పౌరులకు ఎంతగా స్ఫూర్తినిస్తుందో మరియు ప్రోత్సహిస్తుందో పరిశీలించండి! దేశం పట్ల అలాంటి ప్రేమే ఇజ్రాయెల్ను గొప్పగా చేస్తుంది. మన దేశంలో ఎంతమంది నాయకులు సైన్యంలో ఉన్నారు? యుద్ధ సమయంలో తమ పిల్లలను యుద్ధభూమికి పంపాలని ఎంతమంది నాయకులు ఆలోచించగలరు? " అద్భుతమైన ఇజ్రాయెల్”
When translated, it claims: “Israel prime minister's son is going to war. Parents are proud to say goodbye to their son. Consider how much this image, this concept, inspires and encourages the citizens of Israel! Such love of country is what makes Israel great. How many leaders are in the army in our country? How many leaders can think of sending their children to the battlefield during war? " Wonderful Israel”
The same image is shared virally with the claim in English which goes as “Israel PM Netanyahu sending his son to serve the country as a soldier. Most heart touching pic. Will any Indian leader even do that??”
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The image is an old one and shows the Israeli prime minister sending off his son to mandatory military service in 2014.
When we performed Google reverse image search, we found that the image was published in news articles in the year 2014.
According to an article published on December 1, 2014, in Times of Israel.com, 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.
Netanyahu reported for duty at the Ammunition Hill collection point, the main location where new recruits from the capital gather before being sent to the IDF’s induction center near Tel Aviv.
According to The Jerusalem Post.com, Netanyahu and his wife Sara were full of pride at this milestone of their son. He told his son to protect the country and protect himself.
Hence, an old image of the Israeli PM sending off his youngest son to the mandatory military service is going viral as a recent incident with the claim that he is sending his son off to the war. The claim is Misleading.