Amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, a video is circulating widely on social media claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slapped by one of his own countrymen.
The caption with the video in Hindi reads: “नेतन्याहू को उसी के लोगो ने थपेड़ दिया.!”
(English translation: “Netanyahu slapped by his own people!”)
The above post can be seen here (archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral video and found the claim to be misleading.
On close inspection, we noticed the watermark ‘2 Sayfaofficial’ in the video. A search led us to an Instagram account by the same name, where the video was originally posted on May 4, 2025. In the clearer version of the footage, it is evident that the man being attacked is not Netanyahu, but Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party — the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Further investigation led us to a news report by Medyanews, dated May 4, 2025, which confirmed that the man who punched Ozgur Ozel at a public event in Istanbul was identified as Selcuk Tengioglu, a convicted murderer previously jailed for killing his two children. (More such reports can be seen here and here)
In conclusion, the viral video does not show Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being slapped. The clip is from Turkey, and it features an attack on a Turkish political leader, not Netanyahu. The claim being circulated online is false and misleading.
