Gadi Eisenkot Slams Netanyahu Over Controversial AI Campaign Video
Gadi Eisenkot expressed deep contempt for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a controversial AI campaign video that critics claimed resembled his fallen son.
Artificial intelligence videos have become an integral part of the Israeli election campaign, but one clip sparked unusual outrage. In July, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party published a video depicting Gadi Eisenkot running with open arms toward a young man wearing a "Unity of Israel" shirt, only to change direction at the last moment and hug Ra'am Chairman Mansour Abbas.
The video drew sharp criticism after social media users claimed the young man's figure resembled Gal Eisenkot, the late son of the former IDF Chief of Staff who fell in battles in the Gaza Strip. Now, nearly three months later, Eisenkot has addressed his feelings regarding the video.
Response to the Controversy
In an excerpt from an interview with Omri Assenheim, broadcast on Reshet 13, the leader of the "Yashar!" party was asked how he encountered the video. "One of my aides showed it to me," he recounted. When asked what he felt at that moment, he replied: "Deep contempt for Netanyahu and his entourage. What are they trying to do? The same thing he has been doing for 30 years—hate and fear."
Assenheim subsequently asked how Eisenkot's wife, Chana, reacted to the video, which revived the memory of their late son. "Did you talk about it with Chana?" the interviewer asked, to which Eisenkot responded: "I spoke about it. She saw it." When asked what she thought, he answered in two words: "Great anger." Assenheim further inquired if the video hurt her, and Eisenkot answered in the affirmative.
"Deep contempt for Netanyahu and his entourage. What are they trying to do? The same thing he has been doing for 30 years—hate and fear." — Gadi Eisenkot
Likud's Defense and Revised Video
As previously recalled, Likud strongly rejected the claims that the young man in the video was intended to represent the late Gal Eisenkot, calling the comparison baseless. Following the backlash, Netanyahu published a revised version of the video in which the young man's figure was replaced by a woman.
Alongside the new video, the Prime Minister wrote: "There is a shocking attempt by extremists on the web to manufacture false conspiracies," arguing that the purpose of the criticism was to divert attention from the campaign's political message that Eisenkot would need the support of Arab parties and Yair Golan to form a government.
