Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party are facing intense political and public backlash following the release of an AI-generated campaign advertisement. According to a report by i24NEWS, the video has been widely accused of mocking the late son of opposition figure and former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. The controversy has rapidly escalated, highlighting the growing ethical concerns surrounding artificial intelligence in political warfare and the deeply sensitive nature of military bereavement in Israeli society.
The Controversial Imagery and Resemblance
The campaign video, published by Netanyahu and Likud, was designed to target Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the opposition Yashar party. In the AI-generated clip, an animated character representing Eisenkot is shown running with open arms toward a young man wearing a shirt that reads “Israeli unity.” At the last moment, the Eisenkot character veers away, bypassing the young man to embrace Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Arab Ra’am party.
While the video was intended as a political critique of opposition alliances, social media users and commentators quickly pointed out a deeply troubling detail. The AI-generated young man in the video bears a striking physical resemblance to Gal Eisenkot, Gadi Eisenkot’s late son. Gal, a military reservist serving in an elite commando unit, was killed in a tunnel explosion in Gaza in December 2023. The tragedy had profoundly impacted the nation, and thousands of Israelis—including Netanyahu himself—had attended his funeral.
Swift Political Condemnation
The backlash from across the political spectrum was immediate and fierce. Former Likud government minister Limor Livnat publicly condemned the Prime Minister, calling the video “pathetic” and questioning the ethical decline of the campaign. “Arthur Finkelstein would never have approved a video like this about a rival whose son fell in a war you managed and failed in, while your own son spends his time in Miami,” Livnat wrote, adding, “How low can you go? Shame on you.”
Similarly, former IDF spokesman Avi Benayahu described the video as deeply insulting and self-destructive for the Prime Minister. Benayahu warned that the production was “humiliating” to Netanyahu himself, stating, “This harms you. It will harm you.” The criticism underscored a broader consensus that crossing the line into the personal grief of bereaved military families violates a long-standing, unspoken ethical boundary in Israeli politics.
The Campaign’s Retreat and Counter-Accusations
In response to the mounting public outrage, Netanyahu’s campaign team denied any intentional connection to the late Gal Eisenkot. However, in an apparent effort to mitigate the political damage, Likud quietly pulled the video and released a revised version. In the updated clip, the young man was replaced by a female character.
Netanyahu attempted to shift the narrative, posting the revised video alongside a statement accusing political opponents of exploiting the situation. “There is a shocking attempt by extremists online to create false conspiracy theories in order to conceal the simple truth,” Netanyahu wrote, asserting that “Gadi Eisenkot has no government without the Arab parties and Yair Golan.”
The opposition Yashar party did not let the matter rest. In response to Likud’s attacks, Yashar released a counter-video featuring a compilation of past statements by Likud politicians praising Mansour Abbas. The supercut included Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli stating he was “very impressed by the very moderate line represented by Mansour Abbas.” Yashar concluded their counter-campaign with a direct message: “Netanyahu has no government without the non-Zionist parties.”